At the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, masks were a recommended public health measure to prevent transmission of the virus.
New research suggests masks were ineffective at reducing the risk of infection when Omicron became the dominant variant.
In a study published in PLOS ONE, researchers found that several risk factors for infection, including wearing a mask, changed significantly in December 2021 when Omicron became the dominant SARS-CoV-2 variant.
According to the study, adults and children who consistently wore masks at work, school, or in enclosed spaces prior to November 2021 had a reduced risk of infection, but not after the onset of the first wave of Omicron.
During the first wave of Omicron, never wearing a mask was associated with an increased risk of infection of about 30 percent in adults and 10 percent in children.
"Maybe wearing a mask outside the home ceased to be that useful a protection because there was so much transmission likely to happen within 'trusted' social circles anyway." Masks Only Modestly Reduce Risk Ms. Brainard told The Epoch Times that she and her co-author, Dr. Paul Hunter, felt that some people invested "Way too much faith" in wearing masks.
Their 2020 systematic review suggested that masks only modestly reduced the risk of transmission of influenza-like illnesses by about 19 percent if both parties-the infected and susceptible-wore masks.
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