Name: 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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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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The words "Business Insider".Two crossed lines that form an 'X'. It indicates a way to close an interaction, or dismiss a notification.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 : "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.Tegnel, who is seen as the architect behind Sweden's no-lockdown strategy, backed his assertion by pointing to countries like Spain and Belgium that recommended masks and still had high numbers of COVID-19 cases, according to the Times.&nbsp;His refusal to recommend masks came despite neighbouring countries Denmark, Finland, and Norway all changing their stance on masks in the last week.Norway is recommending them during rush-hour periods on public transport, and Denmark is making them compulsory on public transport.Despite Tegnel's resistance, there's been a growing body of research that found face masks do prevent transmission, including an analysis of 42 countries that said mask use was the "key" to controlling the pandemic, previously reported.Karolinska Institute professor of clinical epidemiology Jonas Ludvigsson told the Times one of the reasons Sweden has not embraced masks was that most people trusted the authorities, compared to other countries where people might ignore advice and wear masks regardless."When the Swedish health agency says there's no reason to wear face masks, people don't wear face masks," he said.&nbsp;On Tuesday, Sweden's public health agency said it was looking at proposals for the government going forward, and one option it could consider was recommending face masks for specific reasons, like going to the hospital.Earlier in the month, Tegnel also claimed that up to 30% of Sweden's population could have been immune from COVID-19, but his claim wasn't backed by data, previously reported.As of August 20, Sweden had 85,411 confirmed cases of COVID-19 with 5,802 deaths, according to data from .Something is loading.Do you have a personal experience with the coronavirus you'd like to share? Or a tip on how your town or community is handling the pandemic? Please email and tell us your story.Get the latest from Business Insider Intelligence on how COVID-19 is affecting industries.NewsletterDon't miss industry news. Get our daily newsletter today.Something is loading.Two crossed lines that form an 'X'. It indicates a way to close an interaction, or dismiss a notification.

The words "Business Insider".Two crossed lines that form an 'X'. It indicates a way to close an interaction, or dismiss a notification.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 : "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...

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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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