Humiliation for Daniel Andrews as the 'world first' study Victoria held up as proof its mask policy crushed Covid is labelled 'CRAP' and 'riddled with basic errors' By Sam McPhee For Daily Mail Australia Published: 01:40 BST, 21 October 2021 | Updated: 02:02 BST, 21 October 2021 Viewcomments Daniel Andrews has been humiliated as a 'world-first' study that justified his mandatory mask mandate was described by leading researchers as scientifically 'crap'. A report was published through the Burnet Institute referring to the Victorian Premier's compulsory use of masks during their 112-day lockdown in 2020. The report found 'mandatory mask use policy substantially increased public use of masks and was associated with a significant decline in new COVID-19 cases after introduction of the policy', saying it 'strongly supported' the use of masks outdoors. Mr Andrews introduced the mandate from July without providing any scientific justification, but the decision has been widely criticised by Australian scientists and was labelled by an anonymous clinician as 'crap'. 'I agree, it's crap,' he told News. 'It's extremely lightweight. I think it's a totally feeble article. It doesn't have a rigorous methodology and it is weak in its scientific inference.' Daniel Andrews has been humiliated by a 'world-first' study that determined his mandatory mask mandate was scientifically 'crap' A report was published through the Burnet Institute referring to the Victorian Premier's compulsory use of masks during their 112-day lockdown in 2020 Mr Andrews made the decision based off the report by the Burnet Institute which made the case for 'the use of masks for controlling epidemics in the broader community.' Despite no reported cases of outdoors transmission of coronavirus, Victorians were subjected to months of outdoor mask use. The journal, published on Plos One, stated the use of masks as 'single most important control measure'. It made the elaborate claim that masks 'turned an exponential increase in community transmission into an exponential decrease, almost overnight.' A co-author was quoted as saying the 'key finding' of the study was 'that masks work' and cast doubt on the theories around outdoor transmission. 'Whilst we are confident that masks are highly effective indoors, we don't know how much more effective they are indoors compared to outdoors,' the co-author said in the journal. 'Importantly given the growing evidence of outdoor transmission of the Delta variant, it makes sense that masks are worn both indoors and outdoors during a Covid-19 outbreak.' Mr Andrews made the decision based off the report by the Burnet Institute which made the case for 'the use of masks for controlling epidemics in the broader community' Dr Kyle Sheldrick, a medical researcher at the University of New South Wales, said the fact the Andrews government used the study as a basis for policy making is 'staggering'. 'There has been a lot of low-quality research that has come out in the pandemic, but for this to be used as a basis for a policy change is staggering,' he said. 'To me it's very clear this has not had a close peer review, partly because of the serious and substantive issues, but [also] it just clearly hasn't been proofread.' Studies by the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said despite recommending mask use ' there is limited data from community settings supporting mask use'. A trial recently conducted in Denmark showed there is no decrease in transmission between people spreading the virus outdoors while wearing masks. Read more: Share or comment on this article: All rights reserved for this news site (dailymail) and under his responsibility