Could masks be a must?

New guidance is being developed around the public wearing face masks when the country moves to alert Level 2.

It comes as a report on the risks and benefits of the wider use of masks was made public by the Ministry of Health yesterday.

The ‘‘review of science and policy around face masks during Covid-19’’ was commissioned by the ministry’s chief science advisor, Dr Ian Town. It found face masks were not as effective as hand-washing or social distancing, but could not find any data to quantify risk reduction.

The review examined a range of approaches taken by different countries and found there was evidence of both potential benefits and potential harms but that the science was not conclusive.

A spokeswoman for the ministry said the updated evidence had been referred ‘‘to our technical advisory group to advise on whether there should be any change to our current recommendation.’’

The review states the debate about public use of face coverings was ‘‘heated’’. It sets out that there are no clinical trials on the efficacy of public face coverings to protect against Covid-19. ‘‘Therefore, evidence is being pulled from indirect research. Much of this is around influenza, SARS, clinical settings, or N95 v surgical.’’

Director-General of Health Dr Ashley Bloomfield confirmed that following the release of the evidence, the ministry was looking again at whether it would recommend the public wear masks during level 2.

The current ministry advice, for most people in the community, was that face masks were not recommended unless people had symptoms of an acute respiratory infection.

However, recommendations were being made for masks to be used in specific settings such as for hairdressers and beauticians.

‘‘At this stage we think our advice stands, but we are asking our technical advisory group to get back to us on that,’’ Bloomfield said.