25 July 2020 | New Scientist | 5FOR months now, UK prime minister
Boris Johnson and his ministers have
been repeating a mantra for tackling
the coronavirus pandemic: follow the
science. Debates about “the” science
aside – the UK government seems
to have had too many modellers and
not enough public health experts
advising it – an approach based on
evidence is always a good one.
Evidence, however, can sometimes
be lacking. On 29 January, early in
the pandemic, the World Health
Organization published a guide
on the use of medical masks by the
general public to slow the spread
of the virus. It said that compulsory
mask wearing shouldn’t be required,
as “no evidence is available on its
usefulness to protect non-sick persons”.
It is easy to read those words andassume that face coverings of any
kind are pointless – indeed, that is
precisely what many people have
done. But as the saying goes, absence
of evidence is not evidence of
absence. Rigorous studies on mask
wearing have simply not been done,so we cannot say for sure that they work.
We also cannot say that they don’t.
Now, though, new evidence is trickling
in. As a result, official policy in many
countries, including in England (see
page 11), is changing. We still don’t have
the gold standard of medical evidence –
a randomised trial – but as we learn moreabout how the coronavirus is
transmitted, face coverings seem
a sensible idea.
Not content with fighting one
pandemic, Johnson has also signalled
his intention to begin battle with
another: obesity. Of course, the two
pandemics have become interlinked,
with obesity a factor in the development
of some cases of severe covid-19.
However, despite obesity having
been around for a great deal longer
than covid-19, the evidence on what
to do about it remains surprisingly
contradictory, with dieticians at
loggerheads over whether the most
effective approach is to reduce how
much fat or carbohydrate we eat
(see page 16). To find out, we need
more long-term research. Only
then can we follow the science. ❚A pair of pandemics
In our fights against covid-19 and obesity, our best weapon is research
The leader
“ The two pandemics have
become interlinked, with
obesity a factor in some
cases of severe covid-19”CONTACT US
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