The Science is Conclusive: Masks and Respirators do NOT Prevent Transmission of Viruses

Research.net ^ | 4/20/2020 | Dr. Denis G Rancourt, PhD

[WillVoteForFood]

The issue of masks is such an oddity, because what people who are proponents of masks seem most freaked out about is that people are not wearing masks ALL the time. How often have you read or heard people state, "Wherever I go, all I see is people not wearing their masks, and when they come near me I move away so I won't be exposed"? Yet time and time again, we have been told exposure for the purposes of infection generally does not happen in passing, i.e., when walking past someone at a grocery store or outside on a sidewalk.

The New England Journal of Medicine published the following article, Universal Masking in Hospitals in the Covid-19 Era (https://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMp2006372?query=recirc_curatedRelated_article) in May of 2020. Early on, it states the following:

We know that wearing a mask outside health care facilities offers little, if any, protection from infection. Public health authorities define a significant exposure to Covid-19 as face-to-face contact within 6 feet with a patient with symptomatic Covid-19 that is sustained for at least a few minutes (and some say more than 10 minutes or even 30 minutes). The chance of catching Covid-19 from a passing interaction in a public space is therefore minimal.

Read the entire article and in the end the significant conclusion appears to be that wearing a mask is largely symbolic and a reminder of the pandemic. It is fair to note at the bottom of the article under Letters, three of the doctors provide some qualification, but in doing so, they essentially end at the same place as discussed in the article.

We did state in the article that “wearing a mask outside health care facilities offers little, if any, protection from infection,” but as the rest of the paragraph makes clear, we intended this statement to apply to passing encounters in public spaces, not sustained interactions within closed environments. A growing body of research shows that the risk of SARS-CoV-2 transmission is strongly correlated with the duration and intensity of contact: the risk of transmission among household members can be as high as 40%, whereas the risk of transmission from less intense and less sustained encounters is below 5%.5-7 This finding is also borne out by recent research associating mask wearing with less transmission of SARS-CoV-2, particularly in closed settings.8 We therefore strongly support the calls of public health agencies for all people to wear masks when circumstances compel them to be within 6 ft of others for sustained periods.

They state their intention through the article was to encourage more masking, but in the end, they suggest what is common sense. People are almost certainly not getting sick by passing contact. Grocery stores should be prime hot zones, and while there have been reports of occasional infections among staff resulting in temporary closures of isolated stores, I cannot recall a single article or study that points to any grocery store in the country as having been a chief source of an outbreak in a city.

The wearing of masks for the most part appears to be a giant public visible hashtag, rather than an effective means of slowing spread of the virus.

[Svartalfiar]

I make my own 2 layer cloth masks. Upon returning home from an essential errand, I remove my gloves, untie the masks from the back, and drop them into a plastic bag I keep in my laundry room for used masks. I only wear them once before laundering them in hot water and then a hot dryer. I would not wear a mask I had previously worn and removed.

Do you wear a different pair of gloves for the car and the store? Do you not touch anything in your pockets, your phone, your shirt, etc while in the store? Obviously you avoid touching your face at all whatsoever. What about your keys? Gloved I assume, but then do you wear gloves when you go outside to get the mail/water the yard/go for a walk/anything, or do you not get dressed up for that, and touch that same door handle coming back in? Try buying some glitter or a fluorescent dye, and dip your gloves in them as you start your next outing. See what all is glittery / glows in blacklight when you get home!

While you sound like you're doing a better job of handling the decon process than most, the problem is that any small issue means the whole process is essentially useless. What filter rating are your two layers? Do they have a solid seal against your face?

[diatomite]

Too bad Dr. Rancourt that you haven’t researched adding a personal ion generator while wearing a surgical mask. A ~20X increase in filtering efficiency.

https://weinproducts.com/news/entry/filtering-efficiency-of-n95-and-r95-type-facepiece-respirators-dust-mist-facepiece-respirators-and-surgical-masks-operating-in-unipolarly-ionized-indoor-air-environments

[Svartalfiar]

That's a pretty useless meme. I am not trying to protect myself from virus particles all day long, just droplets in casual contact in a store. They may fall to the floor but some will float a bit farther.

They'll float a lot farther. Aerosolized droplets (which contain a bunch of viri particles) can float around for weeks, if there's no air current at all.

[Grandpa Drudge]

I'm not sure what you think that math means. To me, it simply means that surgical masks and N95 respirators perform almost exactly the same, neither work.

[Grandpa Drudge]

You observe "But that doesn't answer the question of effectiveness." In a roundabout way, it does answer the question of effectiveness.

Other studies make it clear that surgical masks do not work against viruses. This paper indicates N95 respirators don't work significantly better. Neither are effective against viruses.

[logi_cal869]

A key statement from the author is missing from that post, which was probably posted before ResearchGate censored him and pulled his article:

"Denis G. Rancourt is a researcher at the Ontario Civil Liberties Association (OCLA.ca) and is formerly a tenured professor at the University of Ottawa, Canada. This paper was originally published at Rancourt's account on ResearchGate.net. As of June 5, 2020, this paper was removed from his profile by its administrators at Researchgate.net/profile/D_Rancourt. At Rancourt's blog ActivistTeacher.blogspot.com, he recounts the notification and responses he received from ResearchGate.net and states, “This is censorship of my scientific work like I have never experienced before.”

https://www.rcreader.com/commentary/masks-dont-work-covid-a-review-of-science-relevant-to-covide-19-social-policy

[Drago]

Watch out, it is a “I saw it on the Internet, it must be true” kinda site: a quick search shows “SOTT” is highly suspect...the research author the website quoted has no paper related to masks/respirators at the the quoted site “Researchgate.net”. And at least one of the research papers quoted near the bottom says nothing about “masks vs. no mask” but refers to “N95” masks vs. surgical masks. Enough for me to ignore. Buyer beware.

“Denis Rancourt, PhD”:
https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Denis_Rancourt

One study quoted as “proof” (not!):
https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jama/fullarticle/2749214

One of the research papers mentioned on the site “sorta” supports their position: https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/epidemiology-and-infection/article/face-masks-to-prevent-transmission-of-influenza-virus-a-systematic-review/64D368496EBDE0AFCC6639CCC9D8BC05

[Grandpa Drudge]

Sorry, but your measurements are misleading.

N95 masks stop 95% of particles 5μm in size.

A typical airborne aerosol (vapor) droplet, (which may remain suspended in air for hours) is less than 2.5μm in size, and will go through an N95 mask like a mosquito through a fence. A very large number of airborne aerosol droplets in this size range are exhaled with every breath, and go right through your mask, if you are wearing one.

The SARS-CoV-2 (Covid-19) virus particle is smaller than 0.1μm in size, and many can be contained in a single airborne aerosol (vapor) droplet. At best, your mask will catch a very small percentage of these aerosol droplets, either inhaling or exhaling.

I invite any "scientist" out there to prove me wrong.

[Doctor DNA]

Masks will work better when used in conjunction with those spring loaded googly eye/glasses.

[Grandpa Drudge]

I don't understand the point of your comment.

All three of the articles cited in your post pretty clearly conclude that both surgical masks and N95 respirators fail to protect from virus infection.

Did you even read them?

[Spitzensparkin1]

Okeydoker wrote: “This place is like a magnet for morons.”

Okeypoker may have a valid point here. He should know, he is his own proof of that fact, too.

Hey moron, if masks work, why did they let all the criminals out of prison when they could have just given them masks to wear? Hmmm?

How about if the virus was spread by farting and they mandated butt plugs? I guess you’d be all in for that too.

Wake up Karen

SS1

[Drago]

Yep, read them. The first link isn’t a study, it is the page listing studies by “Denis R., PhD”, (quoted as the author of the info. in the website) and he has none regarding medical masks. The second link is a study of infection rates in people wearing N-95 masks vs. reg. surgical masks (about the same infection rate between the 2 <8.2%...not a study of “masks vs. no masks”. And like I said the 3rd link “sorta” supports the premise of the article, quote: “needs further study”, and “A secondary per-protocol analysis found that adherent use of N95 or surgical masks significantly reduced the risk for ILI in household contacts (hazard ratio 0·26, 95% CI 0·09–0·77) compared to non-adherent mask use or allocation to the control arm.”

https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/epidemiology-and-infection/article/face-masks-to-prevent-transmission-of-influenza-virus-a-systematic-review/64D368496EBDE0AFCC6639CCC9D8BC05/core-reader

It is “3 strikes and I move on” for “never heard of them Internet sources” for me. YMMV

[Grandpa Drudge]

Well, since Drago has struck out and is moving on, I'll just point out that his referenced article from Cambridge.org provides exactly ZERO evidence (only speculation and opinion) that masks are effective against viruses, and appears to me to simply be politically motivated pablum to keep the sheeple in line.

And by the way, the articles I pointed to are not studies, they are reviews of studies, and include links and references to the data and text from those studies. You can follow the links in the articles and see the exact details of each referenced study.

[who knows what evil?]

'We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all Men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator, with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness...'

Liberty is a gift from God Almighty, and we have let it go...where the hell are America's pastors on this topic? With FEW exceptions; they are COWARDS. They are silent.

[palmer]

Aerosolized droplets (which contain a bunch of viri particles) can float around for weeks,

That's why I prefer outdoor interaction and don't wear a mask outdoors unless required. But we also need to quantify what a "bunch" is and whether that's the 1000 or more needed to cause an infection.

[palmer]

A typical airborne aerosol (vapor) droplet, (which may remain suspended in air for hours) is less than 2.5μm in size, and will go through an N95 mask like a mosquito through a fence

No. You are ignoring the physics of the small scale, the multiple fences in the fabric, the vortex effects, etc. It would be like a cloud of mosquioes mostly mashed after hitting fences at 100 mph. The cloud would be greatly diminished.

At best, your mask will catch a very small percentage of these aerosol droplets, either inhaling or exhaling.

I invite any "scientist" out there to prove me wrong.

Have you invited science into your thought process? No, you have not.

[palmer]

I should also mention that you admit the N95 fabric stops most 0.3 micron particles. So it's a hell of a fence. Not a chain link fence compared to a mosquito, but a mosquito compared to screen with a few holes.

Also keep in mind it takes a thousand or more particles to get infected.

[afchief]

Hey IDIOT Liberal.........Doctors and Nurses are FITTED with masks.........WE ARE NOT!!!

[NobleFree]

Not working means OR = 1; that possibility is excluded by the data.