Professor Patricia Kearney:

I do not really have anything to add to that other than to say that "evidence" is one of those words that we throw around. Anyone can be selective in the evidence they choose to use. The reality is that this is a new disease. It has been with us for a fairly short period. We are learning all the time. We need to be able to adapt and change our responses as the evidence emerges.

To a certain extent, some of the suppression strategies were based on our knowledge of flu pandemics and the planning for them. As the evidence emerges, it is clear that we need to move more now towards elimination. I was a mask-sceptic at the outset of this based on the evidence that I was familiar with. However, like Professor Staines, I have looked at where they have been used at a population level. I have been convinced that it is part of the suites of things we need to do to address the virus.