Reducing the transmission of Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a global priority. Toward this end, public health officials and politicians across the world have been seeking scientific expertise to guide policy. In response, investigators have rushed to share new results on preprint servers, and journals have expedited editorial and peer review processes to publish them. The urgency to define the relevant knowledge base in preventing, diagnosing, and managing COVID-19 infection and its sequelae has required intense collaboration in evidence generation and synthesis, in order to provide public health officials with authoritative guidance.
A newly published Cochrane Library Editorial addresses how Cochrane has responded to the COVID-19 pandemic, what the limitations to COVID-19 evidence are, and suggestions on how policy makers can move forward with best available evidence. This Editorial publishes alongside the updated Cochrane Review 'Physical interventions to interrupt or reduce the spread of respiratory viruses'.
