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LetMyPeopleVote

(145,952 posts) Sun Sep 5, 2021, 01:22 AM Sep 2021

In a first, randomized study shows that masks reduce COVID-19 infections

Masks work

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Now, for the first time, a randomized trial has demonstrated the effectiveness of masks in preventing infection in a real-world community setting. A large study in Bangladesh, co-authored by Yale SOM’s Jason Abaluck and Mushfiq Mobarak, found that a campaign to promote mask-wearing reduced symptomatic infections significantly, particularly among older people and those using surgical masks.

The study, which involved more than 340,000 people in 600 villages, was conducted by Mobarak and Abaluck in collaboration with the research and policy group Innovations for Poverty Action and scholars from Stanford University, the University of California Berkeley, and other universities.

In the first part of the study, completed this spring, the researchers found that a “cocktail” of four interventions, including endorsements from community leaders and reminders from roving monitors, increased mask wearing to 42% in the targeted villages, up from 13% in control villages, as recorded by an observation team. That study’s recommendations have now reached more than 100 million people, having been adopted by governments across South Asia and drawn the support of major companies and NGOs.

In the second part of the study, the researchers surveyed people in the targeted and control villages about COVID-19 symptoms. Those who reported symptoms were asked to provide blood samples, which were tested for COVID-19 antibodies. The results showed that there were 9.3% fewer symptomatic infections in villages that were targeted in the mask promotion program.

The effect was even greater in the villages where the team distributed surgical masks rather than cloth masks. In those areas, infections were 11% lower overall, 23% lower among people between 50 and 60, and 35% lower among people over 60.