Table 1.

Benefits and risks of mandatory mask use in settings where there is a negligible risk of transmission (open, uncrowded spaces).

	Benefits	Harms
Evident		Unjustified restriction of individual freedoms Financial waste Ecological impact Increase in social inequalities
Potential	Reduced exposure risk from infected persons without symptoms Enhanced awareness of the importance of the problem and the need to take other preventive measures Prevention of stigmatisation of individuals wearing masks	Self-contamination due to the incorrect or improper mask use Slackening of adherence to physical distancing. Stigmatisation of those who do not wear a mask, whether because they come within one of the justified exceptions. Respiratory difficulties and facial skin lesions due to prolonged use Altered perception of risk and public distrust due to fear of becoming infected in situations of negligible risk The focus is diverted from structural causes and social responsibility to individual responsibility and the identification of groups of people to blame

Source: in-house, adapted from World Health Organization. Advice on the use of masks in the context of COVID-19: interim guidance, 5 June 2020.⁹