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There is increasing evidence that cloth masks not only may be ineffective against stopping coronavirus transmission, but that they may actually increase the spread of the virus, as well as worsening other health conditions.

Masks have become a political tool and a talisman. When COVID-19 hit, governments panicked and created enormous fear. The Centers for Disease Control currently estimates a COVID-19 survival rate of 99.99 percent for people younger than 50, but the damage created by the panic was too great to undo.It is likely that some politicians eventually realized their mistake and needed a way to back-pedal without admitting their lockdowns were a policy disaster. Their solution was for people to put any old piece of cloth across their face and magically believe that itÂ’s okay to go out shopping again.Masks are not...

Do masks protect against Chinese coronavirus and reduce its spread — or are they, as their critics maintain, mere empty gesture politics? A major study which might finally have answered this question has been postponed indefinitely after three of the world’s top three medical journals mysteriously declined to publish it. Danish newspaper Berlingske reports: The researchers behind a large and unique Danish study on the effect of wearing a mask are having great difficulty in getting their research results published. One of the participating professors in the study admits that the still secret research result could be perceived as ‘controversial’....

The decision came following a lawsuit against federal and state officials for an array of religious freedom violations.. Two Colorado churches and their pastors are currently protected from the state’s enforcement of capacity limits and face masks during worship services thanks to an order handed down by a federal judge on October 15, 2020. This decision came following a lawsuit against federal and state officials for an array of religious freedom violations. Thomas More Society Special Counsel Rebecca Messall and co-counsel Brad Bergford, who are representing the congregations and their pastors, were pleased with the order. Messall reports a favorable...

Twitter on Sunday removed a tweet from one of President Donald Trump's top Covid-19 advisers falsely claiming masks don't work to prevent the spread of coronavirus. The tweet no longer appeared on the site as of Sunday morning, replaced with a note saying "This Tweet is no longer available" and a link to Twitter's rules and policies explaining why the company removes or limits certain posts. The tweet in question, posted on Saturday by Dr. Scott Atlas, read, "Masks work? NO: LA, Miami, Hawaii, Alabama, France, Phlippnes, UK, Spain, Israel. WHO:"widesprd use not supported" + many harms; Heneghan/Oxf CEBM:"despite decades,...

If someone had asked you a year ago what you thought of people who wear masks after Halloween, the chances are your reaction would have been negative. What kind of person covers his face in public? Armed robbers do that sort of thing. So do Klansmen and radical Wahhabis. The rest of us don't do that. In fact, until recently, wearing a mask in public was illegal in many places. The assumption was if you're hiding who you are, you're up to something bad. It made people nervous. By our nature, we want to see each other. We need to...

CLAIM More people who wear masks become sick with COVID-19 compared to non-mask wearers, therefore masks don’t work or are making us ill SOURCE: Jordan Davidson, The Federalist, 12 Oct. 2020 DETAILS Flawed reasoning: The comparison made in the claim is not related to mask effectiveness, but is simply the result of the fact that the study included many more people who wear masks as compared to people who never wore masks to begin with. Of all 314 individuals in the study, there were only 11 who never wore masks. By default, a comparison of the proportions of people who...

Recently, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention put out a “study” claiming that the imposition of mask mandates in Arizona reduced new COVID cases by 75 percent. This is just another example of the weak “science” that the CDC has spewed for months. The piece is simply a report, not a study. And it isn’t a particularly good report. It suffers from extreme justification bias. In other words, the authors of the report had a desired outcome when they put their report together. In fact, one of the authors of the report is the head of the Arizona Department...

"Actually, it appears that masks are today more like what the Vichy French were to the advancing German forces." This is in response to Governor Jay Inslee pontificating, "What aircraft carriers were in World War II, masks are today."

Tuesday, Fox News Channel’s Tucker Carlson sounded off on the media’s consternation with President Donald Trump’s recovery and subsequent actions following his COVID-19 diagnosis. Carlson questioned the standard applied to Trump in the wake of his illness and noted how some Democrats have not lived up to their own professed standard, especially regarding masks. Transcript as follows: CARLSON: Donald Trump got the coronavirus last week. On Saturday, some of his aides suggested in the background that he could die from it. The media happily seconded that diagnosis.

A simple trick can reveal whether your face mask offers sufficient protection: Try blowing out a candle while wearing it. A good mask should prevent you from extinguishing the flame. The rule isn't foolproof, but it should help weed out masks that aren't very protective. Ever since the Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) began recommending cloth masks for the general public in April, researchers have been evaluating the best materials for filtering the coronavirus. An ideal mask blocks both large respiratory droplets from coughs or sneezes - the primary method by which people pass the virus to others...

The Democratic governor's office tweeted on October 3: 'Going out to eat with members of your household this weekend? Don't forget to keep your mask on in between bites. Do your part to keep those around you healthy.'

Breathe easy. A new study suggests that surgical face masks don’t cause a buildup of carbon dioxide or restrict oxygen, despite opposing claims. The study, on the “Effect of Face Masks on Gas Exchange in Healthy Persons and Patients with COPD,” which was published in the Annals of the American Thoracic Society on Friday, was conducted after a group of Florida residents challenged Florida’s mask-wearing mandate in June, arguing that wearing the protective face coverings could result in the buildup of too much carbon dioxide.

To slow the spread of COVID-19, the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) currently recommends the use of cloth face coverings in public settings such as grocery stores where other social distancing measures are difficult to maintain. Medical experts say that “Apart from avoiding crowded indoor spaces, the most effective thing people can do is wear masks.” Some state and local governments mandate the use of face masks or coverings in specific settings, typically in retail establishments and on public transportation. As face-covering requirements multiply around the country, lawsuits challenging them to follow. Trump has been reluctant to...

Reusable antimicrobial SonoMasks from Israeli startup Sonovia Tech now are proven to be more than 90 percent effective against coronaviruses and 99.89% effective against other viruses, even up to 100 washings. The cotton-polyester facemasks, sold online in four sizes, are infused with metal-oxide nanoparticles known to destroy bacteria and fungi...

Meteorological fall started on September 1, astronomical fall arrived on Tuesday, September 22, 9:31 A.M. EDT. So no matter how you count, or what your temperature, it is time we bid adieu to summer, 2020. With all of summer’s oppressive heat, cootie masks, closed businesses, wildfires and riots it’s hard to believe it will be missed but I will. Still, I’ll welcome fall and all it’s blazing glory for what it is - one more marker in time’s relentless cycle of death and rebirth.  “And all at once summer collapsed into fall.” – Oscar Wilde Summer temps have returned to...

Our family’s visit to a Virginia restaurant the other day wasn’t particularly unusual in the coronavirus era, although that state’s requirements are more stringent than most. The staff were all wearing masks and, in this case, plastic gloves as well. The iced tea bin was behind the counter where customers couldn’t touch it, and Virginia restaurants are apparently required to give customers a new plastic cup for every refill. (Somehow, the left went from banning plastic straws to probably tripling the amount of plastic waste generated by restaurants but hey, there could be a .000001% less chance of someone possibly...

Masks and respirators do not work. There have been extensive randomized controlled trial (RCT) studies, and meta-analysis reviews of RCT studies, which all show that masks and respirators do not work to prevent respiratory influenza-like illnesses, or respiratory illnesses believed to be transmitted by droplets and aerosol particles. Furthermore, the relevant known physics and biology, which I review, are such that masks and respirators should not work. It would be a paradox if masks and respirators worked, given what we know about viral respiratory diseases: The main transmission path is long-residence-time aerosol particles (< 2.5 μm), which are too fine...

The Annals of Internal Medicine just published a comprehensive new study on how contagious the COVID-19 virus is. And I’m sorry to report that the case for a number of popular new practices that seem to have filled some spiritual need a lot of Americans have for self-abasement just completely collapsed. The list of practices no longer having any conceivable rationale includes: -Closing down schools. -Closing down gyms, barber shops, or any other businesses. -Limiting the number of patrons allowed in restaurants or other businesses at one time. -Mass testing for the COVID-19 virus. -Putting healthy people in quarantine. -Keeping...

Desks sitting six feet apart will not allow students to skirt the universal mask or face shield mandate ordered by the state Department of Health, according to guidance that was issued on Monday to school officials. Pennsylvania’s Health Secretary Dr. Rachel Levine said on Tuesday this guidance is a clarification, rather than a change, in rules that were sent out to schools in July that drew a lot of questions. “What we heard is some of the language isn’t as clear as it could be so we wanted to make sure that we were as clear as possible,” Levine said...