The effectiveness of facemasks

In a preprint for The Royal Society and The British Academy, Melinda Mills, Charles Rahal and colleagues the Leverhulme Centre for Demographic Science review the existing scientific literature on the effectiveness of face coverings, as well as behavioural and policy implications.

The report was picked up by many UK news outlets including The Guardian (8 July and 13 July), The Financial Times (10 July), BBC News (11 July), talkRADIO (14 July) and The Huffington Post (15 July). It has been cited as one of the catalysts for the British government's decision to make face masks compulsory in shops.

For more information, see the University's news story 'Face coverings made compulsory after Oxford COVID-19 study inspires debate' (14 July 2020) and this piece in The Financial Times Alphaville (10 July 2020).

Melinda Mills also took part in the University's COVID Conversations virtual event series, talking about the topic 'Face masks work!' on Wednesday 22 July.

(Melinda Mills, Charles Rahal and Evelina Akimova, 'Face masks and coverings for the general public: Behavioural knowledge, effectiveness of cloth coverings and public messaging'. Published as a Royal Society and British Academy Preprint.)