Yes, masks reduce the risk of spreading COVID, despite a review saying they don't
Amazing cope about the Cochrane Review study. Covid hystericists love to dismiss sources they disagree with by claiming that non-peer reviewed sources should be thrown out. Anyway, the point of the systematic review is that there is no good evidence that masks work. Ironically, by problematising the RCTs, this piece is proving the point. Other systematic reviews have also found poor evidence that masks are effective as source control. And the piece also misrepresents the Bangladesh RCT. Even the editors of a leading epidemiology journal published “Epidemiology—is it time to call it a day?”, decrying the problems with observational epidemiology.
It's a joke that the CDC-hosted study is called a "Well-designed real-world stud[y]". It doesn't even control for social distancing or time spent in indoor settings (which the study itself notes): "this analysis does not account for potential differences in the intensity of exposures, which could vary by duration, ventilation system, and activity in each of the various indoor public settings visited". The power of cognitive dissonance!
Do Masks Work? | City Journal - "It’s striking how much the CDC, in marshalling evidence to justify its revised mask guidance, studiously avoids mentioning randomized controlled trials. RCTs are uniformly regarded as the gold standard in medical research, yet the CDC basically ignores them apart from disparaging certain ones that particularly contradict the agency’s position... A particular favorite of the CDC’s, so much so that the agency put out a glowing press release on it and continues to give it pride of placement in its brief, is an observational (specifically, cohort) study focused on two Covid-positive hairstylists at a beauty salon in Missouri. The two stylists, who were masked, provided services for 139 people, who were mostly masked, for several days after developing Covid-19 symptoms. The 67 customers who subsequently chose to get tested for the coronavirus tested negative, and none of the 72 others reported symptoms. This study has major limitations. For starters, any number of the 72 untested customers could have had Covid-19 but been asymptomatic, or else had symptoms that they chose not to report... The apparent lack of spread of Covid-19 could have been a result of good ventilation, good hand hygiene, minimal coughing by the stylists, or the fact that stylists generally, as the researchers note, “cut hair while clients are facing away from them.” The researchers also observe that “viral shedding” of the coronavirus “is at its highest during the 2 to 3 days before symptom onset.” Yet no customers who saw the stylists when they were at their most contagious were tested for Covid-19 or asked about symptoms. Most importantly, this study does not have a control group. Nobody has any idea how many people, if any, would have been infected had no masks been worn in the salon. Late last year, at a gym in Virginia in which people apparently did not wear masks most of the time, a trainer tested positive for the coronavirus. As CNN reported, the gym contacted everyone whom the trainer had coached before getting sick—50 members in all—“but not one member developed symptoms.” Clearly, this doesn’t prove that not wearing masks prevents transmission. Another CDC-highlighted study, by Rader et al., invited people across the country to answer a survey. The low (11 percent) response rate—including about twice as many women as men—indicated that the mix of respondents was hardly random. The study found that “a high percentage of self-reported face mask-wearing is associated with a higher probability of transmission control,” and “the highest percentage of reported mask wearers” are found, unsurprisingly, “along the coasts and southern border, and in large urban areas.” However, as the researchers note, “It is difficult to disentangle individuals’ engagement in mask-wearing from their adoption of other preventive hygiene practices, and mask-wearing might serve as a proxy for other risk avoidance behaviors not queried.” Moreover, achieving greater “transmission control” is not remotely the same thing as ensuring fewer deaths... Mask supporters often claim that we have no choice but to rely on observational studies instead of RCTs, because RCTs cannot tell us whether masks work or not. But what they really mean is that they don’t like what the RCTs show... “Some have turned to social media to ask why a trial that may diminish enthusiasm for masks and may be misinterpreted was published in a top medical journal.” Meanwhile, the CDC website portrays the Danish RCT (with its 4,800 participants) as being far less relevant or important than the observational study of Missouri hairdressers with no control group, dismissing the former as “inconclusive” and “too small” while praising the latter, amazingly, as “showing that wearing a mask prevented the spread of infection”—when it showed nothing of the sort. Each of the RCTs discussed so far, 13 in all, examined the effectiveness of surgical masks, finding little to no evidence of their effectiveness and some evidence that they might actually increase viral transmission. None of these 13 RCTs examined the effectiveness of cloth masks. “Cloth face coverings,” according to former CDC director Robert Redfield, “are one of the most powerful weapons we have.”... wearing a cloth mask “may potentially increase the infection risk” for health-care workers"
Somehow, the science on masks still isn’t settled - The Atlantic - "What is most frustrating about this masking uncertainty is that the pandemic has presented many opportunities for the U.S. to gather stronger data on the effects of population-level masking, but those studies have not happened. Masking policies were made on sound but limited data, and when decisions are made that way, “you need to continually assess whether those assumptions are correct”... Obtaining stronger data is still possible, though it won’t be easy. A major challenge of studying the effect of population-level masking in the real world is that people aren’t good at wearing masks, which of course is a problem with the effectiveness of masks too. It would be straightforward enough if you could guarantee that participants wore their masks perfectly and consistently throughout the study period. But in the real world, masks fit poorly and slip off noses, and people are generally eager to take them off whenever possible. Ideally, the research needed to gather strong data—about masks, and other lingering pandemic questions—would be conducted through the government. The U.K., for example, has funded large randomized controlled trials of COVID drugs such as molnupiravir. So far, that doesn’t seem to have happened in the U.S. None of the new studies on masking included in the Cochrane review were funded by the U.S. government. “The fact that we never as a country really set up studies to answer the most pressing questions is a failure,” said Nuzzo. What the CDC could do is organize and fund a research network to study COVID, much like the centers of excellence the agency has for fields such as food safety and tuberculosis... You would think that the policy makers who encouraged masking would have made finding that support a priority. “If you’re going to burn your political capital, it’d be nice to have the evidence to say that it’s necessary”... That America has never amassed good evidence to show the effect of population-level masking for COVID, Nuzzo said, has been a missed opportunity. The best time to learn more about masking is before we are asked to do it again"
Maybe pro-maskers don't want high quality research about masks, because they're afraid it will show that masks are useless
Re-analysis on the statistical sampling biases of a mask promotion trial in Bangladesh: a statistical replication - "A recent randomized trial evaluated the impact of mask promotion on COVID-19-related outcomes. We find that staff behavior in both unblinded and supposedly blinded steps caused large and statistically significant imbalances in population sizes. These denominator differences constitute the rate differences observed in the trial, complicating inferences of causality."
Peer reviewed research challenging the only RCT which supposedly proves masks reduce covid spread (and even there the effect was modest)
The scientific case against face masks - "We all want masks to work, but thus far high-quality data indicates that they don’t, at least not on a measurable population level. The same is true of rapid testing. Considering the limited accuracy of a single asymptomatic swab at detecting SARS-CoV-2, the advice to “test before seeing Grandma” is not supported by evidence that this would provide meaningful protection. In fact, a few studies have shown that large asymptomatic Covid-19 testing programs have had limited utility in reducing transmission. Insisting upon mask effectiveness or the reliability of antigen testing may actually be emboldening vulnerable people, or those who interact closely with vulnerable people, to take risks by eliciting a false sense of security. This phenomenon, known as the Peltzman effect, where people act more carelessly when they perceive risk is lower due to the presence of a guardrail, has been shown to influence a range of behaviours including driving, drug use and sexual activity. In the case of the coronavirus, this might involve forgoing other precautions that would actually protect themselves and others, such as getting vaccinated, avoiding crowds, making sure rooms are ventilated well, and staying home when sick. Even the White House Covid-19 response coordinator, Ashish Jha, recently appeared to lament that an overreliance on masking has replaced necessary investments in improving indoor air quality. The fact that many news outlets continue to promote narratives that are not supported by high-quality scientific evidence may be contributing to historically low levels of trust in the media. Hyping unproven mitigation measures was, and continues to be, a serious mistake."
Michael P Senger on Twitter - "When asked if the CDC will revise its guidance to mandate masks in schools in light of the Cochrane review showing masks do not curb COVID, CDC Director Walensky tells Congress its advice on child masking will never change. “Our masking guidance doesn’t really change with time.”"
Science doesn't really change with time, apparently
Ontario's CMO of health links viral surge to 'negative consequences' of extended mask mandates
[WATCH] Student Destroys School Board with Withering Speech: 'Thank You For Teaching Us We Should Never Question Authority' - "Thank you for teaching students that our own mental health is much less important than making triple-vaccinated adults feel safe. Thank you for teaching me that even the most minute risk is not worth taking. Life is best when you take the path of least resistance with no chance of failure and definitely no chance of catching a cold. Thank you for not reaching out to the students to ask how we feel about masks because if you did the majority of students would say they hate masks and then you might second guess your decision to make us wear them. Thank you for allowing me to experience the anxiety of never seeing facial expressions. Thank you for teaching us that we should never question authority or think critically, but instead we should follow whatever the poeple in charge tell us to do. Obedience is best. I realize now that thinking for yourself is overrated and not really necessary when you can just make decisions based on fear. Thank you for pushing your irrational fears and anxieties on me because I didn’t already have enough to worry about. I realize now how easy I had it when I only had to worry about my classes, grades, SATs, and getting into college. Thank you for teaching me that being a morally superior person only requires that I cover my face for 8 hours a day and the most morally superior people wear two masks or even three masks. As you know, states around us Indiana, WI, IA, MI, MN which have two and a half times more students than Illinois don’t force kids to mask. I’m with you though, these states are out of control recklessly putting kids at risk of misery and death every day. Masks work, even if these states have the same outcomes as Illinois. Speaking of data, thank you for staying silent about masking despite the fact that COVID has a very high survival rate in kids my age. Who needs data, though. We all know that it will never be safe to see anyone’s face ever again."
We Have a Tripledemic. Not of Disease, But of Fear. - "For the last few weeks, the media has been filled with stories about what The New York Times has described as our latest “viral onslaught.” It’s been dubbed a “tripledemic”—a combination of Covid-19, influenza, and respiratory syncytial virus (RSV), which is being blamed for high rates of illness and an excess of hospitalizations, especially among children. The message is clear: fear winter respiratory viruses, and take every possible precaution you can. It’s time to slap on those N95s once more, avoid crowds, and socialize outdoors if possible. But the best available evidence contradicts the narrative from the media and many public health officials. The precautions being recommended are essentially unproven—akin to burning an incense stick, or wearing garlic to ward off vampires. The way to think of the tripledemic is that it’s just another example of what we used to call normal life. And the insistence on never-ending precautions in the face of inevitable exposure to germs is not only medically misguided, it also threatens to stigmatize the most mundane human interactions. In the case of the tripledemic, there is one action the media and its favored experts want more than anything else: increased masking... There are three important points to make about the tripledemic:
There is limited evidence that it exists.
There is no avoiding respiratory viruses.
There is no evidence that prolonged precautions delay the inevitable... “The piper must be paid at some point in nature; kids will get sick, and it has nothing to do with a more compromised immune system,” says Dr. Danuta Skowronski from the British Columbia Centre for Disease Control. This point must be emphasized. It is natural, healthy, and necessary for young children to be exposed to many viruses. In order for children to build immunity to common pathogens—in order for them to develop a normally functioning immune system—they must have such exposure, which will sometimes make them sick. And third, there is no evidence that the interventions purported to stop Covid-19, flu, and RSV will help. Before Covid-19, the evidence to support masking was thin. I co-authored a survey of masking trials that were done prior to the advent of Covid-19, examining whether masks stopped transmission of respiratory viruses. Fourteen of the 16 trials showed masks were ineffective at this. In other words, the pre-Covid evidence was clear that recommending masks for the average person was useless. This is likely one reason why Dr. Anthony Fauci, the CDC, the World Health Organization, and others initially advised against masking. Even worse, the evidence for masking young children for Covid-19, flu, and RSV viruses is entirely lacking. The two best studies on the topic take advantage of natural experiments. One experiment, in the Catalonia region of Spain, looked at the effectiveness of masking children to prevent Covid-19. The authors took advantage of a unique fact: that children six years and older in this region wore masks and those younger than six did not. If masking had a protective effect, then kids just younger than six years would have higher rates of Covid than those just older. But there was no such pattern. In a separate analysis in Finland, the authors compared two towns with different policies for kids between the ages of 10 and 12. One town masked, the other didn’t. There was no benefit seen from masking there either. The spread of COVID19 was identical. There was no difference at all. Additionally, at this point, at least 9 out of 10 American kids have already had Covid-19. We know that having had and recovered from Covid-19—which confers what’s known as natural immunity—doesn’t mean you will never get Covid again. But if you were to, the odds are that it would be milder and less severe. Masking kids who had COVID-19 is pointless in two ways. One, there is no evidence to suggest that it will delay the time until they get it again. Second, it’s being done to prevent something that—for them, at this point in the pandemic—is usually less severe than the common flu or even some cold viruses... Three years into the pandemic, we face a crucial question: How do we want to live the rest of our lives? Like most Americans and as a doctor, my answer is resounding: as normal."
Unattractive people are more likely to continue wearing Covid face masks, study suggests - "There has never been great evidence showing that masks are effective at preventing infections on a large scale, but that has not stopped officials from mandating them across the country."
Meme - "When your coworker who's still been wearing a mask this whole time finally takes it off: Breathe the free air again, my friend."
Cureus | Correlation Between Mask Compliance and COVID-19 Outcomes in Europe - "Masking was the single most common non-pharmaceutical intervention in the course of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. Most countries have implemented recommendations or mandates regarding the use of masks in public spaces. The aim of this short study was to analyse the correlation between mask usage against morbidity and mortality rates in the 2020-2021 winter in Europe. Data from 35 European countries on morbidity, mortality, and mask usage during a six-month period were analysed and crossed. Mask usage was more homogeneous in Eastern Europe than in Western European countries. Spearman's correlation coefficients between mask usage and COVID-19 outcomes were either null or positive, depending on the subgroup of countries and type of outcome (cases or deaths). Positive correlations were stronger in Western than in Eastern European countries. These findings indicate that countries with high levels of mask compliance did not perform better than those with low mask usage."
Clearly everyone must be forced to wear masks 100% of the time, or they won't be effective, and there is no dose-response relationship
Toronto teacher says she’ll mask until her last student stops - "Toronto teacher Kelly Wright doesn’t know what to expect this week, now that staff and students have the option of being masked in school for the first time since the start of the pandemic. But before the March break she told her Grade 1 and 2 class her plans. She would continue to wear her mask — until the last child takes theirs off... Danielle Bischof, whose daughter Maya is in Wright’s class, says when she heard of the teacher’s plans to stay masked until the last student removes theirs, “it brought tears to my eyes.” “I felt so relieved,” said Bischof, noting Maya is “happy to know that she won’t be alone in wearing a mask after spring break.”"
Hopefully in a few years we'll have some studies on the psychopathology of mask wearing
Update: Why Face Masks Don’t Work: A Revealing Review - Oral Health Group - "If you are looking for “Why Face Masks Don’t Work: A Revealing Review” by John Hardie, BDS, MSc, PhD, FRCDC, it has been removed. The content was published in 2016 and is no longer relevant in our current climate."
Politics means firing up the memory hole. So much for trusting the science
Ontario's top doctor spotted maskless at party after warning people to mask up - "The province's Chief Medical Officer of Health started off the week with a stern warning for Ontario residents to mask up in indoor settings. By Thursday, Dr. Kieran Moore appeared to have forgotten his own advice, spotted at a party brushing shoulders with Toronto's elite, drink in hand, and not a mask in sight. Ontario's top doc attended a party hosted by a publication honouring its 50 most influential people of 2022, a list he placed #12 on for "keeping Covid under control." In contrast to his honour, Moore appeared unconcerned with the "triple threat" of respiratory infections sweeping the province, and social media is abuzz with criticism and accusations of hypocrisy."
It's almost as if masking is political
Insider Paper on Twitter - "UPDATE: Masks are now being worn by criminals to conceal their identities, according to New York police who are urging businesses to unmask customers before letting them in stores."
Adorable_Deplorable93 on Twitter - "I worked at a bank during 2020 and in a meeting said its dangerous to let people come in fully masked for appointments and not have them verify ID. I was berated &threatened with violating anti discrimination policies. next day the boss let in a stranger and we got robbed lol"
School face masks worn in England to avoid Covid row with Scotland - claims - "Secondary school children in England were required to wear face coverings to avoid a row with Scotland over Covid, the Daily Telegraph has claimed. Leaked WhatsApp messages suggest that England's chief medical officer had been ambivalent about the scientific evidence behind the measure. Ministers in England came under pressure after Scotland introduced it... In January 2022, the government admitted the evidence for using masks in schools to reduce spread of Covid was "not conclusive"."
Once again, covid measures were really political rather than being driven by Science
Sleeping senior beats WestJet masking ticket - "The prosecution has dropped charges against Alec Bialski, a 76-year-old man who was arrested and charged for not wearing a mask on a WestJet Flight in June 2022... The Charter application describes Bialski as having a respiratory illness which qualified him for a mask exemption but for which he did not have documentation. Bialski apparently told the flight crew that he had breathing problems, but they nevertheless insisted that he wear a mask when boarding the plane, and they continually monitored him for compliance throughout the flight. At one point, Bialski's mask fell off after he took medication to help him sleep. Prior to landing, the WestJet flight crew reported Bialski to the Calgary Police, who arrested him as he was exiting the aircraft. Police then marched Bialski across the airport for more than 30 minutes to a holding cell in which he was locked. As Bialski had recently undergone double hip replacement surgery, he pleaded with the police to provide a wheelchair for him during the march. The police allegedly refused this request and did not provide Bialski with any meaningful opportunities to rest. Bialski claimed that his arrest and forced march across the airport were "cruel and unusual" given his age and medical condition. He also claimed that his right to "life, liberty, and security of the person" was infringed by vague laws and that he was forced to choose between his own personal safety and complying with orders to wear a mask."
The people who want to keep masking: ‘It’s like an invisibility cloak’ - "She’s been fully vaccinated for three weeks, but Francesca, a 46-year-old professor, does not plan to abandon the face mask that she’s come to view as a kind of “invisibility cloak” just yet. “Maybe it’s because I’m a New Yorker or maybe it’s because I always feel like I have to present my best self to the world, but it has been such a relief to feel anonymous,” she said. “It’s like having a force field around me that says ‘don’t see me’.” Francesca is not alone. After more than a year of the coronavirus pandemic, some people – especially some women – are reluctant to give up the pieces of cloth that serve as a potent symbol of our changed reality.
For mask fetishists, it's not really about covid
Meme - Masks+HEPAs+UVC @hepasNmasks: "Add an air cleaner to your setup. DO NOT take off your mask inside. Leave the building and get far away from ppl to eat. Keep your elastomeric ready to don and hold by hand fast if a person surprises you while eating. OM me If you want help making one of these portable purifiers."
Imagine being a mask fetishist and covid hystericist in Mar 2023
Meme - "How the tables have turned:
NO MASK NO ENTRY Per NYS Executive Order & Public Health Guidance
Due to NYC uptick in Crime If you wear a MASK NO ENTRY"
Meme - "I'm going to guess certain details went against their narrative"
Occupy Democrats: "TRUMP'S AMERICA: A security guard at a Family Dollar store in Flint, Michigan, was shot and killed after telling a customer to wear a state- mandated face mask, police said"
"Family Dollar security guard killed after telling shopper to wear mask, prosecutor says *Black guy*"
Screaming black passenger accuses Southwest Airlines of racism after being ordered off a flight - "A black passenger on a Southwest Airlines flight has accused the company of racism after she was asked to disembark for not wearing a mask while using the bathroom... 'Y'all enjoy your flight. This is what happens when you're black in America. You guys all witnessed it. For the first time, when you're black in America they'll tell you to get off the flight', she says"
From 2021. When 2 liberal shibboleths clash
Tycoon who offered mask-wearing passenger $100Gs called 'creep' | Toronto Sun - "Tech tycoon Steve Kirsch is feeling the flames on social media after posting that he offered a woman a $100,000 payout if she would remove her mask on their flight... “And I pointed out that when she removed the mask for eating and drinking, she could be infected with one breath. So she had full disclosure,” he continued. “She took off her mask as soon as the breakfast was served!!!! Because everyone knows you can’t get infected while you are eating!!” He concluded: “Maybe next time I’ll sit next to someone who had an account at Silicon Valley Bank.” Kirsch’s tweets yielded plenty of response, with some slamming him as “a creep” and an “arrogant fool.” “Has it occurred to you that she or someone close to her is immunocompromised? Or were you too busy trying to make whatever dumb point you’re trying to make,” one person replied."
From 2023. Apparently if you're immunocompromised, covid will not escape from your orifices when you're not wearing a mask while eating
When Will Masking End? - The Atlantic - "Some are relieved that the CDC has officially reunited vaccines and masks, a scientifically powerful pairing that many experts think never should have been broken up. But I also heard frustration, confusion, even betrayal. There was a sense that we’re in a morose backslide, a worry we’ll never be rid of pandemic behaviors initially pitched to us as “temporary.” In America’s version of the pandemic, flimsy masks have already been forced to carry so much symbolic heft. Now they’ve taken on yet another weight: the sense that the precautionary limits we’ve put on our lives might never, ever end. “So much of the previous messaging was ‘Wear a mask until we have a vaccine developed’ or ‘until we have people vaccinated,’” says Gretchen Chapman, a psychologist who studies decision-making behavior around vaccines at Carnegie Mellon University. Masks were a stopgap, and shedding them was a reward for rolling up our sleeves. “Now,” Chapman told me, “it seems to some people like that reward is getting taken back.”... some vaccinated people can’t help but feel a bit like “suckers,” Chapman said. Many people covered up dutifully while awaiting their shots, then tossed their masks aside because the government said they could—only to reel from the whiplash of last week’s switcheroo. The guidelines for the unvaccinated (that is, keep masking) haven’t changed, while the immunized are once again being called upon to act. “Asking people to mask up again is triggering a lot of emotional stuff,” Lindsey Leininger, a public-health-policy expert at Dartmouth, told me. “You can’t tell people that those feelings are invalid.” Masking, at least at pandemic levels, also doesn’t feel sustainable in the long term. Although vaccines confer protection against disease that’s expected to last for many months, if not years, with one or two brief jabs, masks require constant reinvestment and vigilance... “Keep on masking” also feels like a pretty sharp departure from the initial selling points for face coverings. These accessories were meant to be deployed until something better came along, and the most unpalatable aspect of the CDC’s new mask ask might be the uncertainty it comes with. This time, there’s no well-signed off-ramp. The vaccines are already here; they’ve already been made available to most Americans. We hit the milestones we laid out and still feel stuck."
From 2021. So much for the myth of the slippery slope (we got that with booster shots too). Luckily we got the Ottawa Convoy and despite covid hystericists' delusions, the world didn't die from covid
