[timr]

> That combined with sources of uncertainty not covered by that intervale (Listed in their limitations: missing data, variable adherence, patient-reported findings on home tests, no blinding, and of course inconclusive results) definitely make it sound pretty inconclusive.

The study is not inconclusive. The study failed to reject the null hypothesis. That much is definitive.

Whether or not there might be some smaller difference that the study wasn't powered to detect...we don't know. It's still a definitive rebuttal of any claim that "masks reduce personal risk of infection by 50%", and the fact that it's not in the "personal protection" section of the CDC webpage is simply editorial bias. At the very least, this paper is the best study ever performed on masks and SARS-CoV2, and it severely limits any real-world claim of protectiveness.

> There is also the limitation that there was "no assessment of whether masks could decrease disease transmission from mask wearers to others."

The study wasn't designed to do that. It should still be in the "personal protection" section of the CDC webpage, and is not.