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Are Face Masks Effective? The Evidence


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2021 Jan 30, 5:13pm   4,116 views  210 comments

by Patrick   ➕follow (55)   💰tip   ignore  

https://swprs.org/covid-masks-review/

There is increasing evidence that the novel coronavirus is transmitted, at least in indoor settings, not only by droplets but also by smaller aerosols. However, due to their large pore size and poor fit, cloth masks cannot filter out aerosols (see video analysis below): over 90% of aerosols penetrate or bypass the mask and fill a medium-sized room within minutes.
The WHO admitted to the BBC that its June 2020 mask policy update was due not to new evidence but “political lobbying”: “We had been told by various sources WHO committee reviewing the evidence had not backed masks but they recommended them due to political lobbying. This point was put to WHO who did not deny.” (D. Cohen, BBC Medical Corresponent).
To date, the only randomized controlled trial (RCT) on face masks against SARS-CoV-2 infection in a community setting found no statistically significant benefit (see above). However, three major journals refused to publish this study, delaying its publication by several months.
An analysis by the US CDC found that 85% of people infected with the new coronavirus reported wearing a mask “always” (70.6%) or “often” (14.4%). Compared to the control group of uninfected people, always wearing a mask did not reduce the risk of infection.
Researchers from the University of Minnesota found that the infectious dose of SARS-CoV-2 is just 300 virions (viral particles), whereas a single minute of normal speaking may generate more than 750,000 virions, making cloth face masks unlikely to prevent an infection.
Japan, despite its widespread use of face masks, experienced its most recent influenza epidemic with more than 5 million people falling ill just one year ago, in January and February 2019. However, unlike SARS-CoV-2, the influenza virus is easily transmitted by children, too.
Austrian scientists found that the introduction, retraction and re-introduction of a face mask mandate in Austria had no influence on the coronavirus infection rate.
In the US state of Kansas, the 90 counties without mask mandates had lower coronavirus infection rates than the 15 counties with mask mandates. To hide this fact, the Kansas health department tried to manipulate the official statistics and data presentation.
Contrary to common belief, studies in hospitals found that the wearing of a medical mask by surgeons during operations didn’t reduce post-operative bacterial wound infections in patients.
During the notorious 1918 influenza pandemic, the use of cloth face masks among the general population was widespread and in some places mandatory, but they made no difference.
Asian countries with low covid infection rates, most of them neighboring China, benefited not from face masks but mainly from early border closures. This is confirmed by Scandinavian countries Norway, Finland and Denmark, which didn’t introduce mask mandates but closed borders early and saw very low covid infection and death rates, too.
German scientists found that in and on N95 (FFP2) masks, the novel coronavirus remains infectious for several days, much longer than on most other materials, thus significantly increasing the risk of infection by touching or reusing such masks.

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172   GNL   2021 Jul 31, 2:02pm  

Patrick says
WineHorror1 says
@Patrick, you're a liberal? Are you a democrat?


@WineHorror1 No, that's a quote of the original article. It's quoting me quoting someone else.

It seems liberalism doesn't mean what it used to anyway. Classic liberalism is not the same as today's liberalism.
176   richwicks   2021 Aug 3, 11:13am  

WineHorror1 says
Onvacation says
WineHorror1 says
Patrick says
When people start dying from the "vaccine" in large numbers

Does anyone know when this is supposed to start happening?

Next flu season when those primed by the jab get exposed to the CCP virus in the wild they die in a cytokine storm.

That's one theory.

Do people actually believe this?


In the 50 years I've been in existence, the most important thing I've learned is listen to every prediction, and observe results.

Assume the vaccine IS deadly, we'll know in time if it is or not. If it is, it is.

From my point of view, given that in my age group I have a vanishingly small chance of death, I'm not taking the vaccine, even if I knew, with 100% certainty, it was safe and effective. I consider it a waste of money.
177   Eric Holder   2021 Aug 3, 12:46pm  

richwicks says
From my point of view, given that in my age group I have a vanishingly small chance of death, ....


... not to mention the chance of even getting infected is very far from 100%.
178   WookieMan   2021 Aug 3, 3:33pm  

Just got back from Michigan a couple hours ago. I know Patrick and a couple other users have lived there for a bit. Little surprised with the frequency of mask wearing across the lake.

I was never hassled, but I think the "Delta" hysteria is making people nervous. It was close to 50/50 indoors. We were camping and people were walking around in them. It was kind of sad to watch, especially kids playing with masks on.

It was likely Chicago people, but we hit Warren Dunes Beach up two days in a row. I couldn't believe how many masks I saw there. Then they patrol for fucking booze. I'm at a beach on a trip for fucks sake, what did you think we'd do? I'm here to relax in your state and give your town, county and state revenue and you won't let me be a responsible adult and have 3-4 beers in the afternoon at the beach? You punish me because of some underage clowns?

Was a really shitty vibe. And no, I don't need to drink to have fun or relax, we still had a blast. More of a freedom issue for me. If it's legal in your state, let me fucking do what I want. State Park be damned.

I bring this up because mask mandates are pure bullshit as has been said ad nauseam here and elsewhere. I'm an adult. I can make adult decisions. I know not to walk into a store with my dick hanging out. We're talking about mask that scientifically have been shown not to be effective agains viruses, not true crimes.
179   Patrick   2021 Aug 3, 5:21pm  

WookieMan says
I think the "Delta" hysteria is making people nervous.


That means it's working!

The propaganda, that is.
180   Onvacation   2021 Aug 3, 5:28pm  

WookieMan says
It was kind of sad to watch, especially kids playing with masks on.

Child abuse.
181   Robert Sproul   2021 Aug 4, 8:16am  

richwicks says
Assume the vaccine IS deadly, we'll know in time if it is or not. If it is, it is.

I am not sure that we ever will know. It seems like something they can pretty easily obfuscate, and blame all bad outcomes on Omega Variant 3.0 and the Unvaccinated Deplorables.
I can picture in year 5 of the rolling lock-downs, the Ferrets dragging themselves into a State Injection Station for their 16th booster and cursing the "Vaccine Hesitant" for their situation.
182   WookieMan   2021 Aug 4, 8:45am  

Onvacation says
WookieMan says
It was kind of sad to watch, especially kids playing with masks on.

Child abuse.

Not lying, was legit upsetting. Not a hard ass or a softy, but legit almost brought a tear to my eye. Not being sarcastic either.

My kids hate the masks (school only, but that has stopped). But some of these kids I saw were 6 and under. They are going to think this is normal. In the future they are going to think it's normal. Outside for fucks sake. A virus that has not killed any non-immune compromised (healthy) kid that I've ever heard of. I'm at the point I want to punch some of these parents. They have zero clue what is going on. They're sheep.

I've mentioned it before, but if it can't kill my 290lbs, 69 year old, alcoholic uncle (wife's), I'm not certain this is dangerous at all and has been a reclassification of multiple ways of death.
183   RC2006   2021 Aug 4, 9:52am  

They are going full blown mental. NIH director saying kids should wear mask at home is about as clown world as it gets.
184   Patrick   2021 Aug 4, 12:54pm  

Robert Sproul says
I can picture in year 5 of the rolling lock-downs, the Ferrets dragging themselves into a State Injection Station for their 16th booster and cursing the "Vaccine Hesitant" for their situation.



Can we get a Constitutional amendment passed before those 5 years go by?

https://patrick.net/post/1340459/2021-08-04-proposed-constitutional-amendment
185   zzyzzx   2021 Aug 5, 9:06am  

Passed by Home Depot last night. It had a sign "Please Wear a Mask", or something similar. I assume that means masks are optional, and beat down and anyone who questions me?
186   Karloff   2021 Aug 9, 8:30am  

https://thefederalist.com/2020/10/29/these-12-graphs-show-mask-mandates-do-nothing-to-stop-covid/

Our universal use of unscientific face coverings is therefore closer to medieval superstition than it is to science, but many powerful institutions have too much political capital invested in the mask narrative at this point, so the dogma is perpetuated. The narrative says that if cases go down it’s because masks succeeded. It says that if cases go up it’s because masks succeeded in preventing more cases. The narrative simply assumes rather than proves that masks work, despite overwhelming scientific evidence to the contrary.
188   Patrick   2021 Aug 9, 1:05pm  

Live your life!

Do it with honesty, devoted to truth, refusing to obey criminal orders, and encouraging everyone you know to do the same.
191   Patrick   2021 Aug 12, 12:38am  

Glenn Greenwald
@ggreenwald
14h
Amazing: Google's YouTube suspended @RandPaul -- a US Senator and a medical doctor -- for disputing the efficacy of cloth masks.

JUST LAST WEEK: Biden's former COVID adviser, the epidemiologist Michael Osterholm, told @camanpour exactly the same thing.
192   Patrick   2021 Aug 12, 12:39am  


Bongino Report
@BonginoReport
13h
So @YouTube suspends @RandPaul, a medical doctor, for saying the exact same thing about cloth masks as Biden's former COVID adviser Dr. Osterholm?

Makes total sense if you're a leftist!
193   Patrick   2021 Aug 12, 12:40am  

Glenn Greenwald
@ggreenwald
14h
Here's Dr. Osterholm on CNN saying exactly the same thing that @RandPaul just got suspended from YouTube for saying: that cloth masks, as opposed to N95s, provide very, very little protection. Why can yo say this on CNN or PBS but not YouTube????


https://twitter.com/ggreenwald/status/1425486313831243778#m
194   DhammaStep   2021 Aug 12, 4:53am  

Patrick says
Glenn Greenwald
@ggreenwald
14h
Here's Dr. Osterholm on CNN saying exactly the same thing that @RandPaul just got suspended from YouTube for saying: that cloth masks, as opposed to N95s, provide very, very little protection. Why can yo say this on CNN or PBS but not YouTube????


https://twitter.com/ggreenwald/status/1425486313831243778#m


I've been quite disappointed with Greenwald recently. As a constitutional lawyer, I imagined that he would be far more passionate about vaccine passports. He also got the shot because he said the safety data checked out.

This is a good step.
195   Onvacation   2021 Aug 12, 7:01am  

Greenwald
also got the shot because he said the safety data checked out

What data do you suppose he was looking at?
196   richwicks   2021 Aug 12, 7:04am  

DhammaStep says
He also got the shot because he said the safety data checked out.


I find it incredibly ironic that a journalist who has spent something like 20 years exposing just how sociopathic and criminal the government is taking the government's word on the safety and efficacy of an untested vaccine using completely new technology.

Moderna has never had a product until now. The very first vaccine made by Johnson and Johnson is this one.

Neither vaccine has long term safety testing, neither technology has been used before, even in animals, and there is an active censorship campaign to encourage use.

And Glenn Greenwald thinks the data checks out.

Funny he's got that level of cognitive dissonance at his age.
197   Robert Sproul   2021 Aug 12, 7:20am  

IF masks have any marginal efficacy it is certainly only N95 masks.
IF the Covid Hysterics actually believed what they spout about SCIENCE, manufacturing would have geared up quickly and every household in America would be receiving weekly allotments of masks in the mail.
It is obviously about something besides “disease transmission”.
198   WookieMan   2021 Aug 12, 9:31am  

Robert Sproul says
IF masks have any marginal efficacy it is certainly only N95 masks.

In certain situations, hence why I assume you use "if" they have efficacy. From what I've read a N95 isn't even 100% protective and then that's assuming you wear it all day, which you shouldn't. Even cloth masks.

I posted a screenshot a couple days ago from a FB group for a resort in Mexico. Husband got Covid and they were vaccinated and masked up indoors 100% besides the hotel room. I have to assume they're telling the truth not knowing them, but it's clear masks don't work from repeated stories I've read like this.

I frankly think they make it worse. It's airborne. Why in the fuck would you put something on your face that could trap viral loads that you then continually breath in? Less oxygen wearing a mask for a respiratory illness, ha, that makes sense...

Outside of doctors offices and the rare occasion I needed to get groceries early on, I haven't worn a mask. Oh and travel. I've tested negative twice. Was sick once for 4 days. Pretty standard as I get sick once every 2-4 years. No biggie. I'm not going to wear a mask to live my life unless it's forced for travel (which sucks).

There's a lot of inconsistencies with this whole deal. For example airlines stopped serving booze. Presumably because you take your mask off. But wait... they'll serve you water. There's no logic anymore. People can still get plastered in the terminal, so the being drunk argument is out the window. You could easily limit it to one beer/drink per flight hour. Would be no different than dishing out water.

Headed to USVI in October for vacation and hoping the airlines have gotten their shit together. Last flew in June. And no, I won't have to drive when I land, it's a fun group vacation. Taxis and drinking.
199   Patrick   2021 Aug 12, 7:09pm  

DhammaStep says
I've been quite disappointed with Greenwald recently. As a constitutional lawyer, I imagined that he would be far more passionate about vaccine passports.


A lot of people simply shut down reason and obey arbitrary orders when confronted with fear.

Which is really the whole point of the fear-mongering by Fraudulent Fauci.
200   Onvacation   2021 Aug 13, 12:56am  

Lets try masks again!

It worked so well last time.
201   SumatraBosch   2021 Aug 13, 1:07am  

No

Only breathing through my dick is safe.

Blow me.

And live.
202   BoomAndBustCycle   2021 Aug 13, 1:07am  

https://www.deplatformdisease.com/blog/addressing-dr-daniel-stock-claims?fbclid=IwAR1MqADX7a-ZgGQLgyWZ3uAwe4fk5HsA1s98iUE9eq8KyzhS3VQ0wAVZgBU

A very long read in this link… but it’s a good counter argument to all the half-baked ideas spewed on.
203   Onvacation   2021 Aug 13, 8:26am  

Onvacation says
Lets try masks again!

It worked so well last time.

Two more weeks to flatten the curve.

WE CAN DO IT!!!
204   richwicks   2021 Aug 13, 9:18am  

BoomAndBustCycle says
https://www.deplatformdisease.com/blog/addressing-dr-daniel-stock-claims?fbclid=IwAR1MqADX7a-ZgGQLgyWZ3uAwe4fk5HsA1s98iUE9eq8KyzhS3VQ0wAVZgBU

A very long read in this link… but it’s a good counter argument to all the half-baked ideas spewed on.


I'm went through the pain of reading it:

First several paragraphs are devoted to an ad hominem attack, and then appeal to authority. Two of the most basic logic fallacies:


A surprisingly large number of people have sent me a video that is inundated with disinformation about COVID-19 and its reach seems considerable so I have deemed it significant enough to address. In the video, one Dr. Dan Stock from Indiana at a school board meeting opines at length about all the things we’re supposedly doing wrong with COVID-19 (by the way, the FSMB has now stated that spreading misinformation about COVID-19 vaccination may put medical licenses at risk, though state medical boards have final say it seems; rest assured I will be examining the rules in Indiana quite closely). The speech is little more than a verbal gish gallop: a tactic used by science denialists usually over written forums wherein they post a bunch of links that they claim to support their points but in reality most of the citations are unsupportive or even unrelated to their claim- but this serves the appearance of evidence (this is a famous example). He is doing this verbally- he is making a series of incorrect arguments (that are self-contradictory) and essentially seeking to overwhelm opposition with the volume of arguments he makes. The thing is, as I’ll discuss, he discredits himself very early on, so you don’t have to subject yourself to listening to his nonsense because I did it for you.

To begin, the speaker describes himself as a “functional family medicine physician,” which per him “means [he] is specially trained in immunology and inflammation regulation.” Firstly, this isn’t even how most sources define functional medicine. The Cleveland Clinic Center for Functional Medicine defines functional medicine as

a personalized, systems-oriented model that empowers patients and practitioners to achieve the highest expression of health by working in collaboration to address the underlying causes of disease.

This definition, admittedly, is completely meaningless because the foundation of literally all medicine is built on understanding the pathophysiology of conditions and addressing their underlying cause whenever that is possible (which unfortunately isn’t always feasible) and the implication that other clinician specialties do not do this is on its face pretty offensive. It also tells you nothing about the actual scope of a functional medicine physician’s expertise as far as the ailments they address or which aspects of the human body they specialize in. Perhaps most importantly though, it is not what Stock describes, which most closely seems to describe an allergist/immunologist (which he is not). The title of “functional medicine physician” is usually a red flag for quackery, and he’s already misrepresented his own expertise, so this isn’t off to a great start. An explanation of the problems with functional medicine generally may be found here. Also functional medicine is not a specialty recognized by the American Board of Medical Specialties nor the American Medical Association.


Then he claims that masks block viral transmission. They don't, not at least the ones we're being asked to wear. If you sneeze or are even perhaps talking, the mask my catch larger droplets, but not what you'd be exhaling in just breathing.


Next he claims that coronaviruses and all respiratory viruses are spread by aerosol particles which are small enough to go through your mask, which is a misleading in several ways. Aerosols refer specifically to very small droplets which in general can linger in the air for prolonged periods of time (and they are blocked by masks). While there is evidence that during certain medical procedures like intubation, SARS-CoV-2 can become aerosolized, most contact tracing studies do find that prolonged close contact with individuals is needed for transmission to occur (but obviously there are exceptions). There is definitely a role for aerosol transmission in COVID-19 but precisely how much is not well-defined. He then argues that masks don’t work because viruses are small enough to pass through them. The problem with this reasoning is viruses do not travel as individual viral particles- they are inside the aerosols and droplets. That’s what the masks block. The IDSA has graciously compiled the multitudinous, surfeit evidence demonstrating the effectiveness of masking here which anyone is free to peruse at their leisure.


This is statement is false. Vitamin D deficiency isn't rare but ironically he's also saying that a vitamin D deficiency does make you more susceptible to sickness in general. He also uses weasel words like "there is no evidence that vitamin D alone is protective from COVID-19" - yes, vitamin D ALONE doesn't protect you from a disease.


He then states that all respiratory viruses wait for the “immune system to get sick in the winter” which is baseless. The seasonality of respiratory viruses is a complex matter dependent on many factors, many of which have nothing to do directly with immunity. For instance, when it’s cold, people gather indoors for prolonged periods close together in poorly ventilated spaces. Humidity is lower which also affects virus transmission as it allows aerosols to remain suspended for longer and mucociliary clearance may be impaired. Additionally, not all respiratory viruses peak in the winter. Vitamin D levels in the winter may also play a role but it’s probably not that important in higher income nations because true vitamin D deficiency is relatively rare. I discussed vitamin D at length here. He goes back to this point several times but there’s still no evidence for the value of vitamin D as therapy or prevention in COVID-19. Having adequate vitamin D levels is critical for optimization of one’s health, absolutely, but there is no evidence that vitamin D alone is protective from COVID-19 (and in fact there are Mendelian randomization studies suggesting in fact that vitamin D does not affect risk for COVID-19 as well as a randomized controlled trial).


This doesn't comport with my observation. Can you think of a celebrity or a politician (also a sort of celebrity) that has died of this disease? We have numerous reports of broadcasters and of athletes that have died shortly after having the vaccine. Hank Aaron being a very famous one.


Stock then makes a meaningless and unfalsifiable remark that sounds scary by saying that the vaccines make your immune system become “deranged.” He provides no evidence or reference for this most extraordinary claim even though the burden of proof lies with him for making it. This comment is vague and meaningless and he does not clarify what constitutes immunological derangement. What specific pathologies are the vaccines causing indicative of immunological derangement? We have near real-time safety data on them and the risks (which are themselves exceptionally rare) are: anaphylaxis 2.5-4.7 per million doses, thrombosis with thrombocytopenia syndrome (TTS) with the JJJ vaccine at 3 per million doses, Guillain-Barre syndrome at 7.8 per million doses of JJJ, and the rare cases of myocarditis whose rate is hard to define generally but goes up to ~7 per 100,000 second doses of the vaccine in younger males and is far lower for everyone else. COVID-19 patients on the other hand may have substantial immunological challenges. They develop functional autoantibodies that worsen disease and people who recover from COVID regularly have new autoimmune diseases, including diabetes. Some evidence demonstrates prolonged disruption of normal peripheral immune system function following COVID-19 in some patients. I discussed the differences in disease-acquired immunity and vaccine-acquired immunity here for those seeking additional details.


WTF is a transmissible vaccine? Anyhow, here he states that sars-cov2-19 cannot be eradicated while claiming the Flu vaccine is useful which, at best, is about 33% effective.


Stock then says something about filtering out the virus but the context is no longer masks or any nonpharmaceutical interventions so I’m not sure what he’s talking about and also says the virus can’t ever go away because it has animal reservoirs (zoonotic virus). This is not the whole truth. Certainly, barring a universal coronavirus vaccine that can be given to animals and ideally one that is itself transmissible, SARS-CoV-2 is not a viable candidate for eradication because it has animal reservoirs that can keep introducing it into the population. This does not mean that vaccination cannot alleviate the public health burden of COVID-19. It does it every year for flu, which is another zoonotic disease.


And at this point, I got sick of reading it.

I'm no expert in medicine, but this guy sure says a lot, without saying much. That's a red flag for bullshit and argument by authority. But it doesn't matter. If you believe him, follow his advice which I assume is "take the vaccine".
205   Onvacation   2021 Aug 13, 4:01pm  

Are Face Masks Effective? The Evidence.
https://swprs.org/face-masks-evidence/#aerosols
206   Onvacation   2021 Aug 13, 4:03pm  

Risks associated with face masks
Wearing masks for a prolonged period of time may not be harmless, as the following evidence shows:

1)The WHO warns of various “side effects” such as difficulty breathing and skin rashes.

2)Tests conducted by the University Hospital of Leipzig in Germany have shown that face masks significantly reduce the resilience and performance of healthy adults.

3)A German psychological study with about 1000 participants found “severe psychosocial consequences” due to the introduction of mandatory face masks in Germany.

4)The Hamburg Environmental Institute warned of the inhalation of chlorine compounds in polyester masks as well as problems in connection with face mask disposal.

5)The European rapid alert system RAPEX has already recalled 70 mask models because they did not meet EU quality standards and could lead to “serious risks”.

6)A study by the University of Muenster in Germany found that on N95 (FFP2) masks, Sars-CoV-2 may remain infectious for several days, thus increasing the risk of self-contamination.

7)In China, several children who had to wear a mask during gym classes fainted and died; the autopsies found a sudden cardiac arrest as the probable cause of death. In the US, a car driver wearing an N95 (FFP2) mask fainted and crashed due to CO2 intoxication.
https://swprs.org/face-masks-evidence/#aerosols
207   Onvacation   2021 Aug 13, 4:07pm  

Conclusion
Face masks in the general population might be effective, at least in some circumstances, but there is currently little to no evidence supporting this proposition. If the coronavirus is indeed transmitted via indoor aerosols, face masks are unlikely to be protective. Health authorities should therefore not assume or suggest that face masks will reduce the rate or risk of infection.
208   Karloff   2021 Aug 15, 5:37pm  

https://www.zerohedge.com/covid-19/do-masks-work-review-evidence

In sum, of the 14 RCTs that have tested the effectiveness of masks in preventing the transmission of respiratory viruses, three suggest, but do not provide any statistically significant evidence in intention-to-treat analysis, that masks might be useful. The other eleven suggest that masks are either useless - whether compared with no masks or because they appear not to add to good hand hygiene alone—or actually counterproductive. Of the three studies that provided statistically significant evidence in intention-to-treat analysis that was not contradicted within the same study, one found that the combination of surgical masks and hand hygiene was less effective than hand hygiene alone, one found that the combination of surgical masks and hand hygiene was less effective than nothing, and one found that cloth masks were less effective than surgical masks.
210   Eric Holder   2021 Aug 18, 10:21am  

Onvacation says
RAPEX


Nice name.

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