“Mask Up DC” signs are still visible in the windows of some businesses around Washington, D.C. Are these signs public-health recommendations based on science, or just outdated reminders of a bygone pandemic era? Or could they be relics of a time when many mistakenly believed that masks were actually protecting us? That is the conclusion many have drawn in recent months as new scientific evidence has emerged that seems to challenge conventional pandemic wisdom. An early 2023 study by the Cochrane Library, a well-respected UK-based not-for-profit that specializes in analyzing evidence in medicine and public health, found that “wearing masks in the community probably makes little or no difference” to the outcome of either influenza-like illness or Covid-19.

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