top of page
This site was designed with the
.com
website builder. Create your website today.Start Now

12 Reasons for Universal Masking in Healthcare:

1. Covid-19 has not gone away -  Covid-19: The Basics

2. Masks reduce spread of Covid-19 in Healthcare Settings - Evidence That Masks Prevent Spread

3. Masks prevent spread of other respiratory illnesses such as Flu and RSV - Evidence That Masks Prevent Spread

4. Masks reduce healthcare staff absence due to Covid-19

  • Universal masking in hospitals limits absence of healthcare workers due to COVID-19 (Temkin et al., 2021. Effect of a national policy of universal masking and uniform criteria for severe acute respiratory coronavirus virus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) exposure on hospital staff infection and quarantine. Infection Control & Hospital Epidemiology, 43(6), pp.757-763)

 

  • COVID-19 increases burden on the workforce by increasing healthcare worker absences (Khorasanee et al., 2021. The effects of COVID-19 on sickness of medical staff across departments: A single centre experience. Clinical Medicine, 21(2), pp.e150-e154)

​

  • Increases in COVID-19 work pressures are associated with poorer healthcare worker mental health (van der Plaat et al., 2021. Impact of COVID-19 pandemic on sickness absence for mental ill health in National Health Service staff. BMJ Open, 11(11), p.e054533)

​

  • Healthcare workers are already 7 times as likely to have severe COVID-19 infection as those with other types of ‘non-essential’ jobs (though there is no up to date data since vaccines) (Mutambudzi et al., 2020. Occupation and risk of severe COVID-19: prospective cohort study of 120 075 UK Biobank participants. Occupational and Environmental Medicine, 78(5), pp.307-314)

5. The NHS is already struggling with staff shortages, which would be worsened without universal masking

​

6. Optional masking is less effective - the benefits of masks increases when everyone wears them

  • The benefits of masks increase when more people wear them (Eikenberry et al., 2020. To mask or not to mask: Modeling the potential for face mask use by the general public to curtail the COVID-19 pandemic. Infectious Disease Modelling, 5, pp.293-308)

​

  • Two-way masking reduces risk of COVID-19 infection much more than one-way masking (Bagheri et al., 2021. An upper bound on one-to-one exposure to infectious human respiratory particles. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 118(49))

​

  • When only the susceptible person wears a mask rather than the infected person, COVID-19 infection rates are still high (Bagheri et al., 2021. An upper bound on one-to-one exposure to infectious human respiratory particles. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 118(49))

7. Masks only in certain circumstances/ in certain areas are inadequate for infection prevention

  • Most healthcare-acquired COVID-19 infections in staff may not be from directly caring for COVID-19 patients (Seidelman et al., 2020. Universal masking is an effective strategy to flatten the severe acute respiratory coronavirus virus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) healthcare worker epidemiologic curve. Infection Control & Hospital Epidemiology, 41(12), pp.1466-1467)

​

  • COVID-19 shows asymptomatic transmission (Kimball et al., 2020. Asymptomatic and Presymptomatic SARS-CoV-2 Infections in Residents of a Long-Term Care Skilled Nursing Facility — King County, Washington, March 2020. MMWR. Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report, 69(13), pp.377-381)

​

  • Vulnerable patients will still walk through shared areas of the hospital, sit in shared waiting rooms, talk to staff outside their department and visit hospital shops. There's no study to provide evidence for this, but it's pretty common sense!

8. Patients may be at risk in a room where an infected person previously chose to be unmasked

  • COVID-19 remains in poorly ventilated rooms for an extended period, even after an infected person has left (1. Fiorillo et al., 2020. COVID-19 Surface Persistence: A Recent Data Summary and Its Importance for Medical and Dental Settings. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 17(9), p.3132; 2. Lewis, D., 2021. Why indoor spaces are still prime COVID hotspots. Nature, 592(7852), pp.22-25.)

9. As COVID is airborne, other infection prevention measures are inadequate to stop COVID-19 transmission

  • COVID-19 transmission is predominantly airborne. (1. Lewis, D., 2021. Why indoor spaces are still prime COVID hotspots. Nature, 592(7852), pp.22-25; 2. Zhang et al., 2020. Identifying airborne transmission as the dominant route for the spread of COVID-19. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 117(26), pp.14857-14863)
     

  • Keeping a distance of 2m is inadequate to prevent transmission (Wang et al., 2021. How effective is a mask in preventing COVID‐19 infection?. MEDICAL DEVICES & SENSORS, 4(1))

​

  • Hand sanitising, taking temperatures, plastic screens and face visors to prevent Covid-19 is not supported by evidence (Greenhalgh et al., 2021. Rapid evidence review to inform safe return to campus in the context of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). Wellcome Open Research, 6, p.282)

​

  • Hand sanitising does not reduce airborne transmission of COVID-19 (Zhang et al., 2020. Identifying airborne transmission as the dominant route for the spread of COVID-19. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 117(26), pp.14857-14863)

​

  • Nearly 50% of healthcare workers go to work with symptomatic Covid-19 infection despite being asked to stay home when sick. (Linsenmeyer et al., 2023 doi: 10.1017/ice.2023.47)

10. Removing Covid-19 protections means vulnerable people are less likely to seek healthcare

  • A survey by Clinically Vulnerable Families in June 2022 finds that 86% of clinically vulnerable people have or would delay/cancel medical appointments due to high COVID-19 risks (e.g. due to lack of mask mandates, lack of testing and high community levels). (Clinically Vulnerable Families [@cv_cev]. Available at:  https://twitter.com/cv_cev/status/1541881298901471234)

​

  • A survey by Clinically Vulnerable Families in October 2022 finds that 91% of clinically vulnerable people have or would delay/cancel medical appointments due to high COVID-19 risks (Clinically Vulnerable Families [@cv_cev]. Available at: https://twitter.com/cv_cev/status/1618194848703737858)

​

  • A survey by Clinically Vulnerable Families finds that 54% of clinically vulnerable people have already delayed/cancelled appointments due to high COVID-19 risks (Clinically Vulnerable Families [@cv_cev]. Available at:  https://twitter.com/cv_cev/status/1541882988320915457)

11. Around 30% of people in hospital with Covid-19 likely acquired it at the hospital, as of April 2023. This goes against the NHS value of providing safe healthcare.

  • Percentage of hospital-acquired Covid-19 infections in hospitalised Covid patients is around 30% for all trusts combined in England. (england.nhs.uk/statistics/statistical-work-areas/covid-19-hospital-activity/)

​

  • One of the 6 NHS Core Values: "Commitment to quality of care. We earn the trust placed in us by insisting on quality and striving to get the basics of quality of care – safety, effectiveness and patient experience right every time" (healthcareers.nhs.uk/working-health/working-nhs/nhs-constitution)

12. Hospital-acquired Covid-19 has a higher acute mortality rate

  • A study of hospital-acquired Covid-19 infection in a London teaching hospital found a 13% mortality rate (9% direct cause, 4% contributing factor). (Hawkins et al., 2023 doi: 10.1016/j.jhin.2022.12.014)

    A systematic review of research found that patients infected with Covid-19 whilst in hospital are at a 30% greater risk of death compared to patients hospitalised with community-acquired Covid-19. (Ponsford et al., 2021 doi: 10.3389/fimmu.2021.744696)

 

  • A freedom of information request by The Mirror found that at least 14,000 people have died from hospital-acquired Covid-19 infection to date. This number is likely much higher as only 94 of the 203 NHS Trusts contacted answered.  (mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/we-need-better-over-14000-28046576)

rXONyb5F_400x400.jpg

The Covid Pledge

The Covid Pledge is a scheme designed for companies to sign up to pledge to protect their workers, service users and customers from Covid-19.

They are currently running a campaign for safe healthcare. Their website provides an example template letter for writing to healthcare providers about safer healthcare; a fact sheet; information on how to provide feedback and complain to hospitals and advice on how to respond to hospitals "following official guidelines".
 

bottom of page