UK Covid cases are rising – should we wear masks again?

With Covid infection levels increasing and hospitalisations following suit with the rise of the Omicron sub-variants, some experts have called for a reintroduction of mask-wearing in certain settings.

Other scientists have to say what they think.

The chief medical adviser for the UK Health Security Agency spoke at the meeting.

The evidence on mask-wearing has grown over time. At times of higher prevalence, such as we are right now, they are definitely a good action to both protect you and to protect other people. The current guidance from the National Health Service England states that masks should be worn for all patient interactions. They aren't necessarily to be worn in non-clinical areas.

If you are in a crowded indoor place with people that you don't know, and you're not testing regularly, you need to take and review those risks at an individual level outside the workplace. In the National Health Service, the decisions on that for each organisation are made at that organisation level and can take in a number of factors such as the community prevalence, the number of infections they have seen in their healthcare workers, and they can turn on and off that intervention locally according to all I believe that is the correct approach.

Christina Pagel is a professor at University College London.

I still wear a mask on public transportation and in shops. I wear one during face-to-face meetings at work and would do the same if I went to the cinema, theatre, or other places where people congregate. Many will not be able to restrict their contacts, so a well-fitting, high- quality mask is even more important to try to reduce their chance of catching Covid or of spreading it.

The professor of epidemiology at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine is a member of the IndependentSage group.

I know how to get the answers I don't have. We should use this opportunity to trial out interventions such as mask-wearing and testing in different settings and populations using rigorous methods. It should be easy to assess these interventions now that they are high. The data we collect will allow us to make better decisions about how to control the virus.