Opinion in this country seems to be divided and different to most other countries, should we be using face masks here? BMJ, article argues, 'Yes', 'Face masks for the public during the covid-19 crisisTrisha Greenhalgh and colleagues argue that it is time to apply the precautionary principle (April 9th)Trisha Greenhalgh professor 1, Manuel B Schmid consultant 2 3, Thomas Czypionka chief healtheconomist 4 5, Dirk Bassler professor 2 3, Laurence Gruer professor 6 71Nuffield Department of Primary Care Health Sciences, University of Oxford; 2Neonatal Department, University Hospital of Zurich, Switzerland;3University of Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland; 4Institute for Advanced Studies, Vienna, Austria; 5London School of Economics, London, UK; 6Universityof Edinburgh, UK; 7University of Glasgow, UKThe precautionary principle is, according to Wikipedia, “astrategy for approaching issues of potential harm when extensive scientific knowledge on the matter is lacking.” The evidence base on the efficacy and acceptability of the different types offace mask in preventing respiratory infections during epidemicsis sparse and contested.1 2 But covid-19 is a serious illness that currently has no known treatment or vaccine and is spreadingin an immune naive population. Deaths are rising steeply, and health systems are under strain.This raises an ethical question: should policy makers apply the precautionary principle now and encourage people to wear facemasks on the grounds that we have little to lose and potentially something to gain from this measure? We believe they should.'https://www.bmj.com/content/bmj/369/bmj.m1435.full.pdf
Mark Julian Raymond ● 1841d