Mask Mandates Don't Work?

A recent Cochrane systematic review of blinded, controlled trials concluded that the evidence is not sufficient to conclude that masks work. The study has gone all over the right-wing media and is now the go-to link for people on the anti-masker or masking skeptic side. So let's talk a little bit about the different kinds of evidence. Does wearing a face mask reduce the spread of droplets and therefore the spread of viruses? If we just look at like, does it affect the droplet spread, the answer is yes. But here the data is mixed and it depends on how you look at it.