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Face masks made ‘little to no difference’ in preventing spread of COVID, scientific review finds
Fox News ^ | February 13, 2023 7:17pm EST | Melissa Rudy

Posted on 02/13/2023 7:55:44 PM PST by conservative98

Research suggests CDC’s claims of mask effectiveness may have been exaggerated

By Melissa Rudy | Fox News

The stance by the Centers for Disease and Control Prevention (CDC) on face masks has taken many twists and turns throughout the COVID pandemic.

After initially claiming face coverings weren’t necessary, the CDC changed course in April 2020, calling on all Americans — even children as young as 2 years old — to mask up.

That September, then-CDC Director Dr. Robert Redfield said during a Senate hearing that "face masks are the most important powerful health tool we have," even suggesting that they might offer more protection than vaccines.

Those recommendations likely played a large part in 39 U.S. states eventually enacting mask mandates.

Now, a new scientific review — led by 12 researchers from esteemed universities around the world — suggests that widespread masking may have done little to nothing to curb the transmission of COVID-19.

(Excerpt) Read more at foxnews.com ...


TOPICS: News/Current Events
KEYWORDS: cdc; cochranelibrary; coronavirus; covi19; covid; covid19; facemasks; icantbreathe; masks; n95
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1 posted on 02/13/2023 7:55:44 PM PST by conservative98
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To: conservative98

Published by Cochrane Library, the review dug into the findings of 78 randomized controlled trials to determine whether “physical interventions” — including face masks and hand-washing — lessened the spread of respiratory viruses.

When comparing the use of medical/surgical masks to wearing no masks, the review found that “wearing a mask may make little to no difference in how many people caught a flu-like illness/COVID-like illness (nine studies; 276,917 people); and probably makes little or no difference in how many people have flu/COVID confirmed by a laboratory test (six studies; 13,919 people).”

Next, the review compared medical/surgical masks to N95 respirators (or P2 respirators, which are used in Europe).

It found that “wearing N95/P2 respirators probably makes little to no difference in how many people have confirmed flu (five studies; 8407 people); and may make little to no difference in how many people catch a flu-like illness (five studies; 8407 people), or respiratory illness (three studies; 7799 people).”

“It was the state and local authorities that took the CDC’s recommendations and implemented the mandates,” Dr. Marc Siegel, a Fox News medical contributor based in New York City, told Fox News Digital.


2 posted on 02/13/2023 7:55:53 PM PST by conservative98
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To: conservative98

Maybe because a virus is smaller than a wavelength of visible light.


3 posted on 02/13/2023 7:58:33 PM PST by LukeL
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To: conservative98
Another..


4 posted on 02/13/2023 7:59:07 PM PST by conservative98
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To: conservative98
“little to no difference” was not the point.

It has been proven that the government can command the populace…

And most will obey.

5 posted on 02/13/2023 8:01:43 PM PST by Deaf Smith (When a Texan takes his chances, chances will be taken that's for sure.)
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To: LukeL

Wear a Mask if You Wanna

6 posted on 02/13/2023 8:12:15 PM PST by lightman (I am a binary Trinitarian. Deal with it!)
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To: conservative98
I need a contractor to install chicken wire in my window frames to keep the mosquitoes out of my house.

Science!

7 posted on 02/13/2023 8:14:02 PM PST by thegagline (Sic semper tyrannis! Goldwater 2024)
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To: conservative98

No shit


8 posted on 02/13/2023 8:14:03 PM PST by SomeCallMeTim ( The best minds are not in government. If any were, business would hire them!it)
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It wasn’t about COVID. It was about submission.


9 posted on 02/13/2023 8:22:30 PM PST by Gene Eric (Don't be a statist!)
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To: conservative98

Yet I saw people in the store today wearing the damn things.Low information sheep.


10 posted on 02/13/2023 8:23:31 PM PST by bigbob
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To: Deaf Smith

It was a quick visual compliance check.

A test run to see how many would clamor for the “vaccine”.


11 posted on 02/13/2023 8:23:36 PM PST by lightman (I am a binary Trinitarian. Deal with it!)
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To: bigbob

Does make it easy to identify the Bidenistas.


12 posted on 02/13/2023 8:24:09 PM PST by lightman (I am a binary Trinitarian. Deal with it!)
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To: bigbob

13 posted on 02/13/2023 8:26:47 PM PST by BenLurkin (The above is not a statement of fact. It is either opinion, or satire, or both.)
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To: conservative98; Gene Eric; thegagline; LukeL
I discussed wearing masks with my son and we could agree it was garbage.

I copied the below October 2021 letter (which of course was never published by the 40 or so papers I sent it to) to my son who served with Federal Protective Agency and Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). He said he was issued a respirator and the N-95 masks. He was told cloth masks would be effective against only droplets and should never be used. When facing hazards, the N-95 mask could be used, but only after ensuring proper seal and negative pressure by following a three-step procedure. Then after a half hour he had to leave the area and reestablish the seal with a new mask. Masks could only prevent receiving and never [prevent spreading biological agents

From: Retain Mike Sent: Thursday, October 14, 2021 3:26 PM To: keri.lopez@redmondschools.org Subject: Mask Mandate

The Center for Disease Control (CDC) proclaimed its latest policy about masks and our governor mandated wearing by children as school began.

However, the best science the CDC could provide was uncontrolled studies highlighting first such groups as 139 hairdresser clients, 382 sailors on the U.S.S. Roosevelt, 124 Beijing households, and 839 Thailand residents subject to contact tracing. All results came from observation followed by personal judgement, and none result from the mathematical disciplines used to rigorously evaluate complex environments.

In the same article the CDC disparaged the 2020 randomized controlled trial (RCT) in Denmark involving 4,862 participants, which found no benefit to wearing masks to prevent infection. The disciplines of a RCT divides participants into different groups on a randomized basis. Random assignment means that factors not specifically controlled can cancel each other out by appearing equally in both groups. One group receives the treatment (which in this case was the mask) and the other group does not. Researchers can isolate the one variable and are not able to introduce biases to produce a preferred outcome.

RCT’s are considered the highest standard for this type of research. Therefore, the most reasonable approach for the CDC would have been to consider this study as a benchmark against which others would be evaluated, including studies from other countries which found masks ineffective and even harmful.

The above represents an especially valid approach, since the first four combined citations from their May scientific brief had less than half the participants of the Danish study. The proposed approach is especially valid also because the CDC dismissed the study for involving only .001 of Denmark’s population. At the same time polls predicting the decisions of 150,000,000 voters in a national election were determined by less than 1,500 participants or less than .00001.

Do Masks Work?

https://www.city-journal.org/do-masks-work-a-review-of-the-evidence?wallit_nosession=1

Effectiveness of Adding a Mask Recommendation to Other Public Health Measures to Prevent SARS-CoV-2 Infection in Danish Mask Wearers: A Randomized Controlled Trial

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/33205991/

Science Brief: Community Use of Cloth Masks to Control the Spread of SARS-CoV-2

https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/science/science-briefs/masking-science-sars-cov2.htm

Absence of Apparent Transmission of SARS-CoV-2 from Two Stylists After Exposure at a Hair Salon with a Universal Face Covering Policy — Springfield, Missouri, May 2020

https://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/volumes/69/wr/mm6928e2.htm

Surgeon Shows CDC Top Evidence On Why Wearing Masks Work

https://freerepublic.com/focus/bloggers/3988508/posts

Face masks for children: Both ineffective and dangerous

https://www.wnd.com/2021/09/face-masks-children-ineffective-dangerous/

All the tragic potential harms of face masks

https://www.wnd.com/2021/09/tragic-potential-harms-face-masks/

14 posted on 02/13/2023 8:32:08 PM PST by Retain Mike ( Sat Cong)
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To: conservative98

Already well known from studies of respiratory viruses before the covid-19 madness. But like much of well known science it was suspended during the madness along with the science of herd immunity and of not putting experimental medicines into wide use until long term safety studies are done and much else.


15 posted on 02/13/2023 8:36:12 PM PST by AndyTheBear
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To: conservative98

I would guess the masks even helped with the spread of the virus. They were never meant to be worn continuously; all they do in that case is trap viruses near the mouth and nose where they do the most damage. And you have to constantly touch your face to keep the mask adjusted properly.


16 posted on 02/13/2023 8:41:15 PM PST by Telepathic Intruder
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To: conservative98

Seems like the artsy-fartsy sorts are addicted to chronic maskerbation:

https://nypost.com/2023/02/13/mask-hysteria-these-nyc-venues-still-insist-on-face-coverings/

And many of these sorts are also practitioners of unprotected sex in unimaginable configurations.

What a dichotomy!


17 posted on 02/13/2023 8:41:29 PM PST by lightman (I am a binary Trinitarian. Deal with it!)
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To: Telepathic Intruder
And you have to constantly touch your face to keep the mask adjusted properly.

"Frequently wash your hands...avoid touching your face" disappeared from CDC-speak when the masks appeared.

18 posted on 02/13/2023 8:42:54 PM PST by lightman (I am a binary Trinitarian. Deal with it!)
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To: lightman
maskerbation

             

19 posted on 02/13/2023 8:52:25 PM PST by tomkat (SOTU = FUBAR)
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To: LukeL

I stood outside in our harsh winter of 2020 watching all that breath issuing from everyone’s masks.

Yeah. Sure. Those work.


20 posted on 02/13/2023 8:52:52 PM PST by JennysCool ("It's easier to fool people than to convince them that they have been fooled." - Mark Twain)
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