Show us the evidence that mask wearing works

Last week’s Covid numbers were really encouraging. Six thousand cases (down from 10,000 the week before) and 76 people in hospital, down from 104. Yet the health minister gave no hint that indoor masks will no longer be mandated, and, as far as I know, nobody’s challenged him on it. How much longer does he plan to keep this ridiculous measure?

The research on masks is quite worrying. A Japanese study published in Nature magazine last month (“Bacterial and fungal isolation from face masks under the Covid-19 pandemic”) found bacterial and fungal colonies on the face masks worn by 109 volunteers, even on the face side! There are hygiene issues, especially in this heat.

As for stopping Covid, the science is mixed, to put it mildly. I’ve even seen a video of a scientist testing those blue-and-white surgical masks and finding them to be 100 per cent useless in stopping the virus – and this was someone who wants us all to wear N95 masks instead, so not at all an anti-masker!

Maybe the minister has access to better research – but then why does he never tell us? All these measures are on the advice of ‘the experts’, but ‘the experts’ never say what they’re basing them on. If they want us to keep wearing masks, let them actually quote the studies they’re using to determine that masks work. Then people can decide if the evidence is strong enough.

At the very least, if they’re going to be so quick to impose masks when cases are going up, they should be equally quick to remove them when cases come down!

Julie K.,

Paphos