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Brommers
Eseman
Floating an idea: recruiting disciplined layperson mask wearers who don’t use medical grade masks; assigning group A masks that are N95 equivalent; assigning group B masks that are less effective but still better than non-medical masks; assigning group C masks that aren’t medical grade but no worse than what they normally wear.
IMO it stands an ethical chance because it doesn’t put the participants at increased risk of physical harm; potential psychological harm can be controlled for, eg, by explaining that some masks are better than others but none are worse than what they normally wear, and to take due care. The outcome could save millions of lives without putting the participants in harm’s way.
The study would hopefully determine a relation between respiratory filtration and Covid infection rates: higher filtration should result in fewer cases if masks are indeed effective. If medical grade masks are effective but non-medical grade weren’t, then the usefulness of masks is still established and it becomes a matter of filtration levels.