Effectiveness of masking in community and healthcare settings for reducing the incidence, transmission, hospitalizations and deaths from respiratory infectious diseases

The use of different types of masks (e.g., respirators, medical and non-medical masks) was recommended throughout the COVID-19 pandemic as a means of preventing transmission in healthcare and community settings. Moving out of a pandemic context, there is a need to update recommendations and guidance with evidence about the prevention of respiratory infectious diseases (RIDs) more broadly based on what was learned from the pandemic and from before the pandemic when masks may have been used to prevent other RIDs.