COVID Inquiry: No ‘Convincing Evidence’ Fabric Face Coverings Worked

There wasn’t any “convincing evidence” for fabric face coverings used in community settings, the official COVID-19 inquiry has heard. On Thursday, Professor Dame Jenny Harries, England’s deputy chief medical officer during the pandemic and now head of the UK Health Security Agency, told the COVID-19 Inquiry in her witness statement that the evidence base for using face masks in the community settings “was, and still is to some degree, uncertain.” In government messaging during COVID-19, authorities wrote that evidence “suggests all types of face masks are effective in reducing transmission of COVID-19 in community settings.” ‘It Won’t Work’ UK Health Security Agency Chief Executive Jenny Harries attends a press conference inside the Downing Street Briefing Room in central London on Oct. 20, 2021. (Toby Melville /Pool/AFP via Getty Images) Ms. Harries told the ongoing COVID-19 probe, which will cost around £100 million [$118 million], that the evidence for mask-wearing varied depending on what materials it was made from....