Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what evidence his Department used to implement mandatory face coverings to control the transmission of covid-19.

Face coverings are largely intended to protect others and not the wearer against the spread of infection. Evidence on the effectiveness of face coverings is constantly developing.

In June 2020, Public Health England (PHE) used an established methodology to complete a rapid review of the evidence related to face coverings in the community and COVID-19 and concluded that “the beneficial effects of wearing masks may be increased when combined with other non-pharmaceutical interventions, such as hand washing and social distancing.” A second review, published in January 2021, found evidence consistent with the findings of the first review, that the use of face coverings in the community helped reduce the spread of COVID-19. Therefore, PHE continue to advocate the same measures of wearing face coverings in specified community settings. We keep our face covering policy under review, guided by the advice of scientific and medical experts.