Study on facemask's efficacy rejected by top science journals: Report

The science supports that face coverings are saving lives during the coronavirus pandemic but the debate is still on.

A contact tracing study presented at this year's ESCMID Conference on Coronavirus Disease (ECCVID) confirms the effectiveness of wearing of masks in public, handwashing, and social distancing to protect against SARS-CoV-2 infection.

But a recent research study that sought to determine if masks help stop the spread of Covid-19 has been rejected by several prestigious journals.

The researchers asked 3000 people to wear masks at all times in public places and 3000 were instructed not to cover their faces. And both the groups were tested after a month.

And according to the clue dropped by the researchers, it was the paper’s conclusion, not its methodology, which led to the journals’ rejections.

According to the Christian Torp-Pedersen, professor and chief physician at the research department at North Zealand Hospital, “We can’t start discussing what they are dissatisfied with. For if so, we must also explain what the study showed. And we do not want to discuss this until it has been published,.”

(With inputs from agencies)