Face masks made ‘little to no difference’ in preventing spread of COVID, scientific review finds

I guess we have learned that Fox News just can’t be trusted as a reliable source of information.

The statement “Face masks made ‘little to no difference’ in preventing spread of COVID, scientific review finds” is misinformation.

The Cochrane review has a few problems like the overwhelming majority of the studies in the review were not about the SARS-Cov-2 virus or Covid. In addition, the studies had not been performed in a pandemic situation. These studies can’t be used to state that mask mandates never worked against Covid or that masks didn’t work during the pandemic.

The review examined whether interventions to encourage mask wearing slow down the spread of respiratory viruses. There were such a small number of good studies that a clear conclusion can not be drawn.

Rather than making polarizing statements, some critical thought could be applied to the subject of mask usage.

For instance, a study that was undertaken in Bangladesh provided the largest randomized controlled study during the pandemic. It looked at the effects of encouraging people to wear masks during the pandemic and it found a significant reduction of covid cases within the villages that encouraged masking. The trial subjects were taught how to wear masks properly.

That actually demonstrates that masks did make a difference.

It’s really hard to make any conclusions due to the lack of studies and that during the pandemic many people were wearing poorly fitted ineffective masks.

 

I know you posted this to another member, but you need to understand that the facemask argument (along with social distancing, lock-downs, 'testing', vaccines/other 'medical' interventions, etc.) is irrelevant and moot as long as no scientific evidence for the existence of a virus has yet been confirmed. You might as well be talking about whether facemasks protect against unicorns.

 

To have ever believed masks worked was an example of the highest form of sheep like ignorance.

An ounce of critical thinking was demonstrative they were never going to work.

 

Respirators are not just masks, they are respirators lmao.

That flimsy cloth mask Dems and yourself encouraged people to wear, demanded even, didn’t work. And if anyone thought critically about it they knew it was going to.

 

He always likes to pretend that the issue was wearing P100's. Desperate.

 

Wow! A blast from the past.

P100 respirators provide serious covid protection if worn properly. Goggles needed, too.

 

Which is very different than a normal cloth mask that lefties insisted be worn based on fake science.

 

Haha truly. It was always astounding to me that so many people could be convinced that this tiny flimsy piece of cloth was going to protect others from a virus. People can truly be made to believe anything.

 

Does the ‘ounce of critical thinking’ include surgeons who wear masks to prevent them spitting various nasty germs into open incisions during surgery?

What exactly were you expecting masks to do? Stop the pandemic dead in its tracks? Work 100 percent of the time?

Perhaps an ‘ounce of critical thinking’ might help you work through this a bit more.

You do know that mask wearing was a worldwide thing based on scientific knowledge.

Again with the critical thinking issue. Did you know that researchers found that cloth masks were associated with a 56% decrease in testing positive for COVID-19, surgical masks by 66% and N95/KN95 masks by 83% compared to those who didn't wear masks or face coverings.

Masks were never advised as a means to stop the Pandemic, they were supposed to be a way of slowing down transmission which they clearly did. The efficacy of masks depends on correct wear and how many people are wearing them. Even if the mask is flimsy, it can prevent the spewing of large amounts of virus into the air. It was unfortunate that the world was so woefully unprepared for a pandemic and hopefully next time there will be enough N-95 masks for everybody as they are much more effective than the cloth masks.

To apply some more critical thinking, did you know that at the beginning of the pandemic, the healthcare workers, who were constantly exposed to COVID had the lowest rates of infection especially with the use of N-95 masks.

Surgical masks are a flimsy piece of paper and they do protect. I guess all those medical people who have been brainwashed into wearing them during surgery aren’t preventing post surgery infections by wearing them.

So how about the posters who are demanding some critical thinking actually practice what they preach instead of just posting insults. Explain how you expected masks to work; explain why you believe it was just a ‘dem’ thing; explain how masks don’t have the effect of slowing down the transmission of the virus if a large number of people are using them properly; explain and give scientific explanations of how masks don’t work. When surgeons wear masks, patients do not get post surgical infections caused by viruses/bacteria that live in the mouth. In fact, if any of you have surgery, tell the surgical staff that masks are useless and tell them not to wear them and hopefully you won’t develop any post-surgery infections in your surgical wound. While you are at it tell the surgeons to apply some critical thinking and that they are engaging in the highest form of sheeplike ignorance by protecting their patients from post-surgical infections.

Thank you in advanced for you application of critical thinking to the matter of mask use.

 

People act like the way the general public was wearing mask is in any way shape or form comparable to the way the trained medical personnel were are them.

First of all the medical personnel tend to wear higher quality ones. Second of all they wear them properly and don't touch all over them and then touch all over everything else with their germy hands, thus cross-contaminating everything they touch.

They wear them over their mouth and their nose instead of just over their mouth, and last but not least.... In addition to not constantly touching them... They don't wear them for several days in a row... They wear them once and throw them away.

Hundreds of millions of people were wearing them improperly.

 

Oh no you misunderstand, they absolutely work to stop you from spitting. Which is exactly why they work in the context of a surgeon. What they do not do is stop you from spreading a virus like Covid throughout your daily activities. To have ever believed that was an exercise in a rabid and zealot like “just believe” attitude towards fake science. Not unlike that of very religious people.

Mask wearing world wide is absolutely a thing for very specific tasks, again such as being a surgeon. However it has never been effective at stopping the spread of a virus or even limiting it in any measurable way by wearing it during daily activities. Such as grocery shopping, or working in a cubicle all day.

the data you are posting is false. It has been shown there was no measurable decrease. The data you have is based on terribly collected data that didn’t at all have good control.

Masking was absolutely a means of slowing, not stopping the pandemic, nor did I claim otherwise. What I am claiming is that it was a failed and stupid attempt, that wasn’t based on real science, a stupid attempt that has been proven now as ineffective. Yet an ounce of critical thinking would have demonstrated this from the very beginning. It was never a rational claim to begin with…it was an emotional desperate one.

Again, your claim make zero sense. No one is refuting the reality it has purpose is very specific medical practices to stop the spread of droplets. What it doesn’t do is stop, nor even slow down, the spread of the virus in every day use for Normal living activities. Your straw man’s aren’t working here.

I didn’t “expect masking to work”, and i was correct. It was genuinely a dumb attempt. At no point could you possibly believe, if you actually thought about it, that this flimsy cloth mask that didn’t have a seal, as you sit in an office with other people for 12 hours a day lol was helping.

 

I don’t think you understand the purpose of masks during a pandemic. It wasn’t about every day ‘Normal’ living, it was trying to slow down the spread of the SARS virus in any way they could. It wasn’t just about masks either. It was about keeping infected people away from others. It was about maintaining a reasonable distance from others when out related to asymptomatic infections. It was about keeping the infected away from others. Masking was just one intervention to try to slow the spread and to protect the vulnerable.

The purpose of mask is to help filter out the aerosol that is generated in the respiratory tract when we breathe, speak, cough. Masks are very effective at filtering out larger aerosol particles and less effective at filtering out the smaller ones, like viruses but because viruses travel in droplets, they are still reduced by the filtering effect. Wearing any type of mask will filter to some extent, not wearing a mask won’t. It’s that simple and stupid to say otherwise.

It wasn’t a ‘stupid’ attempt maybe just to those who have no idea how masks actually work, how they should be used correctly and when, and the other interventions that have to be performed to diminish or slow the spread of the virus. Masks have not been proven to be ineffective that is misinformation and the Cochrane review did not say this at all. Masks were shown to work during the pandemic.

All you doing here is telling people to critically think when you aren’t doing so yourself. You haven’t produced one iota of evidence to back up your claims based solely on your own lack of knowledge related to masks and related to there purpose during a pandemic to help slow the transmission of the virus with other measures in place. You are parroting misinformation. So basically you are saying scientists all over the world are stupid and you know better than they do because you read misinformation on the internet which agrees with what you believe. Well, sorry you have it wrong in so many ways.

When there is another pandemic, I hope that people have learned from the recent one and don’t fall for all the crap on the internet. If a virus comes along that is virulent and very infectious and causes the death of everyone, not just the vulnerable, I bet all the naysayers would be out buying masks and doing many things to protect themselves. The governments around the world tried to slow it down and keep the vulnerable safe which was the point of masks, lockdowns, distancing etc. If a virus came along that had an extremely high mortality rate, you can bet your government would institute extremely severe measures like China did in the recent pandemic. All the whining over having to wear a mask, poor babies, what abuse.

 

in order for a mask or respirator to be effective at anything it must be properly fitted and employed. Im not sure if Much Ado knows these steps involved in proper mask use.

Can you describe how a mask should be used, Much Ado?

You can't just pull your used and filthy mask out of your pants pocket, put it on before you enter a store, then open the door with the same dirty hands you used to put on your dirty mask without contaminating the door handle. Using a mask twice is not unlike using a condom twice.

 

Jefferson et al. (2023) further showed that N-95 masks were highly effective in hospital settings with healthcare workers. The risk of getting infected with COVID‐like illnesses was reduced by 30% on average.

 

Obviously. Surgical masks don't protect the wearer.

 

Wear a P100 respirator like this one...



Buy as many as you need to let them sit for a few days before wearing again.

 

I understood the purpose very well, you simply want to believe I don’t understand the purpose so you can dismiss the very valid critics about the useless masking.

It was used during every day normal living, which was useless. It didn’t slow down the spread, it was simply a thing people did for politics and emotional reasons. It was a virtue signal.

masks are effective at stopping droplets, there is no effective filter happening nor is it useful for every day living such as at work in an office environment. Masks have a very specific purpose in very specific environments and the left irrationally believed that you could wear them at essentially all times in a public setting and this would be effective. It wasn’t. It wasn’t even close.

Distancing and what not, among all the other things society did are good. Not every action we took was bad or ineffective. But masking absolutely was.

If a truly terrible virus does arrive, isolation will be effective, as various forms of social distancing. However, hopefully we will have learned that thin cloth mask does nothing and people don’t fall for that far left propaganda.

It was absolutely a stupid attempt, again the purpose of masking was not met. It was ineffective. I’m absolutely thinking critically, you are creating strawmen in order to pretend I’m not. That’s your own fault. It is you parroting misinformation, the data is clear. Masking did not have a measurable effect. That type of misinformation being pushed by the left is dangerous and can cost lives.

You have it wrong in so many ways lol.

 

Nor anyone around them from a virus like Covid in a normal setting.

 

There's evidence of some protection for others in specific situations, arguably not enough to mandate their use.

Some people would do well to wear a respirator with all this smoke around from wildfires.

 

Definitely not in everyday use, which was mandated. And it was very obvious from the beginning that was stupid, and ineffective.

 

You do understand that the world is made up of more than just the USA and information ‘pushed by the left’. Perhaps not.

Referring to mask wearing as ‘far left propaganda’ is a failure and demonstrates a huge amount of scientific illiteracy.

You haven’t written one word that convinces me that you have actually read the research and scientific articles related to the transmission of the virus and steps taken to decrease transmission.

Here are your woeful examples of critical thinking - ‘it was a virtue signal’, ‘it wasn’t even close’, ‘it was a stupid attempt’, ‘it was ineffective’. That isn’t critical thinking, it’s an opinion not backed up by any substance whatsoever.

There is data that supports the concept that mask use is effective.

Even before the pandemic, there were studies performed in the context of the flu that demonstrated masks prevent the spread of infection.

In Bangladesh during the pandemic, 350,000 people from 600 rural villages were enrolled into a mask study. Villages were randomly assigned to group with a series of interventions that promoted correct mask wearing or to a control group. Those in the group where proper mask wearing was the intervention were found to be 11 percent less likely to develop covid-19 and this increased to nearly 35% for people over 60. Seems like in this situation, masking worked. Perhaps, you can explain the 11 percent difference if it wasn’t masks that made the difference. If masks were not effective, no statistically significant differences between the groups would have been observed.

Science has repeatedly shown with many studies a dose-response relationship between wearing no mask at all as compared to wearing a cloth mask, surgical mask, and N95. As the mask filtration and fit improve, you get better protection. The only time there is zero protection is when no mask is worn. A mask is a physical barrier and provides protection. Mask wearing is meant to be a population based intervention which means efficacy depends on the number of people wearing them.

Masks protect the wearer from other people and protect other people from the wearer. If you are in a room with 10 asymptomatic people and one of them is infected with covid and shedding the virus into the air, if all of the 10 people were masked properly, it would be unlikely for the virus to be transmitted to anybody due to the masks. If everybody was unmasked with no mask barrier, no filtration, then it is highly likely that most will be infected. I will give some real life examples of this further down.

To think critically, the less virus in the air means less potential of infection. As I have mentioned, evidence from laboratory studies with different masks has shown that masks are effective to different degrees at blocking respiratory droplets.

There really aren’t a lot of research studies from the pandemic itself because of ethical concerns. However, epidemiological evidence strongly shows evidence in favour of mask use.

It was determined that mask mandates in 15 states and the District of Columbia led to a slowdown in daily covid-19 growth rates.

Looking at deaths in 198 different countries, those countries with cultural norms or government policies in favour of mask wearing had the lower death rates. China, known for mask wearing, had very few deaths at the beginning of the pandemic compared to other countries because nearly all of the country was masked up within two weeks.

You can find reports online where a man on a flight had covid and was wearing a mask — the 25 people sitting closest to him did not develop covid. I guess masks have no effect do they?

In Missouri, two hair stylists, both with covid had close contact with 140 clients while sick. Apparently, everyone was wearing a mask and nobody tested positive from contact with the infected stylists. No, masks have no effect or do they?

More thinking — reduction in covid transmission is directly related to the number of people wearing masks and from a simulation researchers predicted that 80 percent of the population wearing masks would be more effective than a strict lockdown. In China, nearly 100 percent were wearing masks and they had very little transmission while over in the USA it was travelling like wildfire due to a really stupid orange man refusing to wear a mask and saying there was nothing to worry about.

Wearing a mask will reduce the chance of contracting covid and how that choice can be stupid is beyond me. Any mask that covers the mouth and nose will be of some benefit. Is it really dangerous to suggest people maximize their protection during a time when, even though you may remain healthy, you could kill a vulnerable relative by giving them then the virus. Why contract an illness when you can prevent it or is that just a stupid thing to do?

Okay, now where is your evidence that refutes everything I have said. LOL’s and opinions are not critical thinking.

 

"You need to wear a mask."

"Why?"

"Because the science says, wear a mask."

What science is that? Medicine , or psychology?

"The data is clear."

"What data?"

"It's common sense, everybody knows!"

 

I'd like to know who pushed cloth and paper masks, and who went along with the plan even though they thought it was wrongheaded.

 

They all wear one of them Zoro masks now.

 

So, before vaccines and treatments were available, I was wearing this P100 respirator.



I had enough of these that I could set them aside for several days after wearing them.

When I had to wear a "mask," I wore one that protected me.