Posted on 02/05/2023 9:17:09 PM PST by SeekAndFind
The Cochrane Review's latest examination of a plethora of masking and other Covid intervention studies conducted before and during the Covid-19 pandemic should put the final nail in the coffin of the belief that widespread masking could have altered the trajectory of the outbreak.
The analysis, which examined 78 studies featuring more than a million people around the world, found that community masking made "little to no difference" to either Covid death or infection rates.
From the section on "Medical or surgical masks":
Ten studies took place in the community, and two studies in healthcare workers. Compared with wearing no mask in the community studies only, wearing a mask may make little to no difference in how many people caught a flu‐like illness/COVID‐like illness (9 studies; 276,917 people); and probably makes little or no difference in how many people have flu/COVID confirmed by a laboratory test (6 studies; 13,919 people). Unwanted effects were rarely reported; discomfort was mentioned.
Four studies were in healthcare workers, and one small study was in the community. Compared with wearing medical or surgical masks, wearing N95/P2 respirators probably makes little to no difference in how many people have confirmed flu (5 studies; 8407 people); and may make little to no difference in how many people catch a flu‐like illness (5 studies; 8407 people), or respiratory illness (3 studies; 7799 people). Unwanted effects were not well‐reported; discomfort was mentioned.
Writes Prasad: "Here is the big summary finding. With 276,000 participants in RCTs or cluster RCTs, masking does nothing. No reduction in influenza like or Covid like illness and no reduction in confirmed flu or COVID. That’s stone cold negative. See those effect sizes and confidence intervals."
People need to read the Cochrane review on masking. In this post, I summarize the key findings, and explain why so many people lied. Important to set the historical record right.https://t.co/KSW4w7rntC— Vinay Prasad MD MPH (@VPrasadMDMPH) February 2, 2023
Professor Francois Balloux, who teaches computational biology at University College London, described the Cochrane Review as the "gold standard in evidence-based medicine" in a tweet last week.
Cochrane reviews are the 'gold standard' in evidence-based medicine. They follow a rigorous methodology and only consider high quality evidence. As such, the review included a limited number of studies and has moderate power to detect small effects.
2/— Prof Francois Balloux (@BallouxFrancois) January 31, 2023
As I've written on this site more times than I can count, if masking worked to limit the spread of Covid-19 or any other highly contagious respiratory virus, it would be blatantly obvious because high masking areas would have discernably different infection rates than low masking areas. They never did, and now the scholarly evidence continues to confirm this.
In any kind of sane world, an analysis like this would end the debate for good. But sadly, we're dealing with Covidian cultists to whom evidence means nothing.
I’ve observed the people I see wearing masks are 90% middle aged women from about 30-55.
Study after study by scientist and medical specialists spending millions to show what anyone with a brain and common sense already knows.
The covid cultist will claim the studies are wrong and governments and government institutions will say they’re erring on the side of caution.
There’s a lot of insane, brain dead, indoctrinated idiots out there.
I had blood drawn last week. When I walked into the clinic, I was wearing a mask. The receptionist at the desk wasn’t. She told me that masks were optional. None of the other healthcare workers were wearing them, but guess what- people were still coming in and wearing them.
Probably less than 50% were wearing them.
One man wearing one had a beard going down to his waist. He looked at me and pointed to his mask. I told him what the receptionist said, and no reaction from him.
How brainwashed we’ve become…
I don’t doubt that there is a small percentage of people who actually NEED to wear them, such as people who are immunsuppreessed.
I am, and if I really feel the need to wear one, I will, but not because a government lackey tells me I should.
I bear the responsibility for my actions just like everyone else.
“After vaccination, not only do we not have evidence. It is irrational to mask. “ Dr. Vinay Prasad
if it’s true that “We never had good data that mask mandates help, or that mask advice (a softer policy) improves outcomes” nor did we have good data that handwashing only gives a 10% preventative protection, isn’t it dishonest and self-serving to judge the past based on newly available data analysis and to twist that prior lack of data into ‘somebody lied’? And begs the question, why did the chinese buy up every mask worldwide given they had access to the same historical data?
This analysis looks at the effects of non N95 unmasking of the unvaccinated in catching covid, “you marginally delay the inevitable” (Certainty of the evidence
(GRADE) low). Other than that and Prasad’s passing reference to vaccination, what isn’t covered in this analysis is effect non N95 unmasking has on transmission RO. Point of fact this analysis tends to lend strength to quarantine as a means of control: “existing evidence on the effectiveness of such interventions (Bootsma 2007), including quarantine (such as isolation, physical distancing) and the use of disinfectants. “ IF non-95 masks only provide a 10% protection, is that better than quarantine?
The "vaccines" don't prevent transmission or infection.
6' socialist distancing doesn't make any difference.
Sheets of plexiglas hanging in mid-air are useless.
What ELSE have you "COVID" morons got?
EVERYTHING about "COVID" is a LIE.
That's what the "vaccines" are for.
In the grocery store yesterday, I saw a white woman, mid-40's, wearing a mask, rubber gloves TAPED at the wrists, with her shopping cart lined with plastic sheets. This was in central NJ.
Definitely a Biden voter.
Also, masks make breathing and normal communication more difficult. Commonsense — people and animals have open breathing holes for a reason.
Well she is helping with the economy by buying,cleaning, etc
all those goodies she is wearing. If it makes her feel happy then
better than her walking around exposing her body goodies.
This has always been my argument with people, like my sister, who insist that masking is "an important piece of the overall defense against Covid". We ran a huge experiment across the US. Some places masked quickly and completely, some hardly at all. Their covid numbers, when corrected for age and obesity, were identical.
(From the article):" .. if masking worked to limit the spread of Covid-19 or any other highly contagious respiratory virus,
it would be blatantly obvious because high masking areas would have discernably different infection rates than low masking areas.
They never did, and now the scholarly evidence continues to confirm this."
(My Comment): Given the minuscule size of the covid virus, I have heard of an analogy regarding the use of masks :
"Wearing an N-95 mask against covid, is like
preventing the passage of a mosquito with a chain-linked fence,.. and just as effective. "
Scamdemic Elitists policies destroying the earth's ecosystems because they care sooooooo much. /S!
“1.6 billion disposable masks entered the ocean in 2020 and will take 450 years to biodegrade”
https://www.independent.co.uk/climate-change/news/masks-ocean-covid-plastic-b1893830.html
That’s a great mask that should be mandated in hell.
Please tell me it’s a mask that actually works and not a disposable cloth diaper that is too porous for virus-carrying aerosols.
I wore black lace when forced to.
I looked like a festive bank robber.
I have tried to evaluate the mask issue, and the other Covid issues, from a scientific/observational viewpoint, and also that of an 84 year old.
I first became concerned about truth when I saw Fauci and the President in March 2020 stop mentioning Zinc, the virus stopper/killer part of the Zelenko 3 part out patient treatment for early Covid. Subsequently I was shocked as I saw major efforts to dismiss potential Zinc ionophores and low cost, low risk treatments including HCQ or Ivermectin as very dangerous and even deadly. This despite decades of safe and effective use for millions of people in third world countries with less then ideal medical services and practitioners. All this was happening before there was any available vaccine that might be useful for Covid.
I’m not even going to spend time on all the ups and downs and anger, criticisms, and disputes we have seen unfold so vigorously here at FR.
I prefer to enter my “anecdotal” evidence that social distancing and masking may in fact have saved lives in those areas where they are most strongly practiced. My information source is Worldometers, Covid-19, US (statistics) and Projections links. I have made a point of observing mask use and social distancing in 4 areas where I have traveled, and spent shopping time—MD, VA, DC, and WV. Over the past 2 years, on several occasions I have copied complete lists of the various statistics shown at worldometers so as to observed changes in life and death issues. The measure I have used as most useful is DEATHS/MILLION. Here are some specific findings.
1) Comparing MD and VA which have experienced changes in governorship, I found that when the doctor/governor of VA left office VA D/M figures were about 200 fewer per million than those for MD. Gradually, over a number of months these figures became closer and closer, until the figures for VA began to be higher than in MD. Shortly after the new governmor was elected for MD I looked at these two states again and the figures were about equal. I have not looked recently.
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2) Having shopped in Walmarts in all 4 states, I have observed that the DC stores were particularly careful about requiring all personnel and shoppers to wear masks and observed social distance, as did other stores in DC. I also noticed that DC figures for D/M were lower than many states despite the fact DC is mostly all urban with little rural space. Over a year and one half only 6 to 8 state have had fewer D/M than DC. At the lowest number they include Hawaii, Alaska, Utah, Vermont and Washington state. It has been my observation that large numbers of DC people were wearing masks while walking the streets, until some reduction this past summer. Black residents were particularly careful in mask wearing. People are also polite in observing social distance when walking the sidewalks there as well. Looking at the 6 charts found when clicking the link in the far right column, I saw that DC had higher scores for masking and social distance than most other links I had examined.
3) West Virginia was the last state to start to have Covid deaths. It did not take lonk for WV D/M statistices to start rising. When I have counted in the past 9 months there were only 6 or 7 state that had higher D/M statistics than predominantly rural WV. I have observed a reduced incidence of masking in WV. In mid 2021, a friend with a heart condition was about to enter a WV Walmart and observed the guards were so lax about masking he decided to only have his masked wife go in to do the shopping.
4) I also did some on llne research on masking and spread of infective material. It was pointed out that coughing and sneezing were a major vector for disbursing Covid as the extremely small viruses travel on water droplets. When wearing a mask, far fewer viral water droplets are distributed in the air through a mask. Charts also were shown regarding how quickly moisture sprayed by coughing and sneezing dropped below the head level. It showed that even 4 feet distance showed significant droplet fall, and 6 feet a lot more. So masking definitely keeps sprayed droplets from spreading to others or being inhaled by masked others in quantity, and distance decreases the number of droplets that reach the mask or face area.
So, I will continue to wear my mask in public and keep my distance from others, especially those NOT wearing a mask.
Mark to read later...
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