Sweden's controversial top epidemiologist is refusing to recommend face masks, claiming it's 'very dangerous to believe face masks would change the game'

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• Anders Tegnel, who is the chief epidemiologist at Sweden's Public Health Agency, told the Financial Times: "It is very dangerous to believe face masks would change the game when it comes to COVID-19."
• "Face masks can be a complement to other things when other things are safely in place. But to start with having face masks and then think you can crowd your buses or your shopping malls — that's definitely a mistake," he said.
• His refusal to recommend masks came despite neighboring countries Denmark, Finland, and Norway all changing their stance on masks in the last week.
• Despite Tegnel's resistance, there's been a growing body of research that's found face masks do prevent transmission, including an analysis of 42 countries that said mask use was the "key" to controlling the pandemic, Business Insider previously reported.
• On Tuesday, Sweden's public health agency said it was looking at proposals for the government, and one option was to at least recommend face masks for specific reasons, like going to the hospital.
• Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.

Sweden's top epidemiologist is refusing to recommend face masks and says it's "very dangerous" to rely on them.

Anders Tegnel, the chief epidemiologist at Sweden's Public Health Agency, told the Financial Times: "It is very dangerous to believe face masks would change the game when it comes to COVID-19."

See the rest of the story at Business Insider

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See Also:

• Sweden has recorded its highest death toll since a famine swept through the country 150 years ago
• Mississippi quarantines more than 2,000 students and 500 teachers as hundreds tested positive for coronavirus, but the governor says, 'It doesn't mean they caught it there'
• Our ongoing list of how countries are reopening, and which ones remain under lockdown

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