Finnish study finds additional citywide recommendations did little to curb COVID-19 cases

A report from the Finnish Institute for Health and Welfare, Finland, published in BMC Public Health, looked into the effectiveness of a city-based mask-wearing policy among 10 to 12-year-olds during the fall of 2021. In the paper “Face mask recommendations in schools did not impact COVID-19 incidence among 10 to 12-year-olds in Finland—joinpoint regression analysis,” the researchers found that more cautious city masking recommendations of school children ages 10 to 12 were ineffective in reducing the incidence of COVID-19 in the general population.