Sir, – When exiting Level Five, our Taoiseach updated guidance on masks, saying that the introduction of mask mandates in July had had an incredibly positive effect.
As he did not elaborate, one can only guess as to what metrics allowed him to reach such a conclusion. It couldn’t be the number of Covid cases or mortality rates, as both have increased since July. It couldn’t be improvements in our personal liberty, as we’ve spent months now sampling the various levels. It could only be in terms of compliance, rather than any actual, quantifiable evidence of health benefit, that our Taoiseach could be so pleased with. And if compliance is the measure of success, then it is understandable that he would look for more, asking us to start wearing them outdoors too. In so doing, however, the evidence for mask benefits, already flimsy, is stretched beyond credibility. Perhaps now might be a good time to question rather than comply? – Yours, etc,
STEPHEN BRUCE,
Blackrock,
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Co Dublin.