Image by Paladin Zhang
Results of a peer-reviewed study performed in 2022 by the Cochrane Library have just been released. It encompassed the results of 78 studies including over 600,000 participants and found that wearing masks in public probably makes “… little or no difference in interrupting the spread of influenza-like illness.” (Their definition includes COVID-19.) And in one of the trials, “…cloth masks were associated with a significantly higher risk…”
Multiple trials on higher quality N95 surgical masks found that even “…N95 respirators may make little or no difference…” in outcomes.
This is not a recommendation – merely a report on the results of this study, the details of which can be found here:
https://www.cochranelibrary.com/cdsr/doi/10.1002/14651858.CD006207.pub6/full