With masks, the science isn't settled.
We are told to wear a mask everywhere we turn.
Billboards along the highway. Press conferences. Celebrities. Medical professionals. Letters to the editor. Social media. Young and impressionable children who come home from school filled with videos and content from Scholastic and Google and other sources who have pounded "masks are a must!" into their head.
There's no getting away from it, and we're told that if we don't wear masks, we're selfish, not doing our part, uncaring, part of the problem, responsible for killing people, and ignorant. Some of us are denied entrance to stores, or are the recipients of glares or confrontational remarks from people who, at the beginning of the year, had been fellow friendly community members. If you don't wear a mask, our state government and leaders have given others permission to view you as something very negative.
We stopped blaming the virus for the outbreak, and turned towards blaming people.
"Trust the experts!" (Except the experts who don't agree to wearing masks.)
"The science is settled!" (Except it really, really isn't.)
We're saturated in taxpayer-funded propaganda, social media "fact checking" restriction of information, and a daily death count, all so we stay in a perpetual state of fear.
Your mask won't save you, and it won't save your neighbor.
Since March I have been researching, reading, and writing on my website about what's going on in this pandemic. In that time, I have lost significant trust and admiration for segments of leadership and expertise in this country who have led the citizens of our nation and state into a place of fear, distrust, division, and anger. The virus itself remains untouched, but the citizenry are horribly ill with these other things. The unknown of March and April was one thing, but we are now in October and the fiddler is still playing while the nation burns, despite the acquisition of plenty of data and discovery that could put the fire out.
Instead of talking about real health and educating us on viruses and bacteria in a useful way, the health experts allowed a platform have only talked about isolation, avoidance, disinfectants, injections, and barriers such as masks and plexiglass. We've done everything to strip humanity and joy from lives in the name of "health," ignoring the very real role emotional health plays into physical health. We have people washing everything they bring home from the store. We have people who won't touch their mail for three days. We have grandparents who haven't seen their grandkids for seven months. We have people in nursing homes dying from loneliness and people of all ages committing suicide because they gave up hope. We have people flocking to drugs and alcohol to cope. Even as the CDC changes its stance on everything from transmission to surface infection probability, the people have already been programmed to think in a state of fear and pay no notice.
Into that brew of fear and paranoia, the push for masks steps in.
Masks will save you, protect you, free you, and show the world you care. Masks can alleviate your fears. Masks can make it so you can go to the grocery store without terror. Masks can get your kids back in school. Masks will keep you from getting sick. Masks are what good people wear.
That's what we're told.
What a cruel thing to do to people confused and terrified. This emotional coercion should be criminal.
Masks, lockdowns, and the like are the equivalent of busywork at school. They're an attempt for someone to say "at least we're trying to do something!" They are safety theater, and worse, they can have their own real and serious side effects.
Masks aren't proven to work as we're being led to believe, even in healthcare settings. They can cause skin and respiratory infections (ironically). They can become their own disease carrier. For some, they cause claustrophobia and breathing problems. They dehumanize individuals and have a subtle effect on how we behave and connect with each other. They are uncomfortable.
And they do not work.
This isn't saying there is no virus. This isn't saying whether or not you'll get the virus and how your body will respond. Respiratory viruses have always been with us and had this strange way of seeming to never touch some people while causing the death in others.
This is a question of what is going on this year, and the destructive side effects of the policies, mandates, and media coverage for a virus that has about a 99 percent chance of survival. This is about people living in terror, being slammed in their worst moments of confusion and fear and weariness with "your mask will save you."
Is the general public wearing masks in a way that is useful and can even be compared to a medical setting? No.
Are masks proven to always and completely stop viruses even in a medical setting? No.
Do masks reduce your oxygen intake? Yes.
Are there growing reports from people (including medical professionals) in which masks have caused staph infections and impetigo on the faces of those wearing them all day, as well as infections in their respiratory tracts from breathing in what's on a dirty mask? Yes.
Are masks unquestionably proven to stop SARS-COV2 (COVID-19)? No.
Is the science settled and all questions answered, with all medical experts in agreement? Absolutely not.
Masks are a grasping at straws by people made terrified by the media. We think a piece of cloth over our breathing apparatus will save us. We know covering the exhaust on our car is bad for the passengers inside, but we don't think about covering our own exhaust and what it does for us internally. "Surely that's acceptable risk if it'll keep me from getting a virus!" you might think.
Yet a CDC report found that about 70 percent of people who got COVID-19 were mask wearers. A recent comparison of case rates in places where strict and enforced mask mandates were put in place found zero correlation to affecting what happened with the curve. With or without masks, the virus did what it would do.
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Luckily, Wisconsin's July mask mandate is having huge effect. |
Below are some links related to masks, reduced oxygen concerns, bacterial contamination of masks, and so forth. They provide information, using scientific studies (some similar but from different sources), experts, and articles, to back up what I've said here. You can see from the sheer number of them that there are legitimate questions surrounding masks, and it's not a made-up political ploy to suggest they don't really work and ought not be mandated in any situation.
The next time someone says there's no real proof that masks should be questioned, that reduced oxygen intake is no big deal, that the bacterial concerns from constant mask wearing aren't legitimate, that the science is settled, and that no experts have questioned the validity of masks, realize those are false statements.
Videos:
- Why masks do more harm than good
- Mask use and concerns
- OSHA Specialists: Are masks safe?
- Masks don't stop the viruses: the proof
- Operation Unmask America
- Mask whistle blower tells all
- Tucker Carlson discussing CDC data (including an interesting bit of history regarding masks and the Spanish flu), and then discussing their contradictory response
- Dr. Lee Merrit talking to council regarding mask mandates in Omaha
- Ireland and Europe's viral outlook. What does the latest data say?
Articles/Links:
- CDC Study Finds Overwhelming Majority Of People Getting Coronavirus Wore Masks
- The Danish Study: Face masks showed no impact protecting wearers against COVID-19
- Authors retract study showing efficacy of mask mandate
- Are Face Masks Effective? (Many studies linked, summarized--good information)
- The Risks vs. Benefits of Face Masks- Is There an Agenda?
- Still No Conclusive Evidence Justifying Mandatory Masks (has many links also)
- Masks Are Neither Effective Nor Safe: A Summary Of The Science
- CDC guidelines say wearing a mask during prolonged exposure to coronavirus won't prevent possible infection
- Masks Don’t WorkA review of science relevant to COVID-19 social policy
- World's Top Epidemiologists - Masks Don't Work! (has many links also)
- Wise Up, North Dakota (previous post with many links in it as well)
- Mask Facts (has links, and also a video you should watch)
- Mask Facts from the Assoc. of American Physicians and Surgeons
- What grows on a petri dish from a mask worn all day?
- Mask charts (mandates on a positive case timeline to see if there's correlation, which there isn't)
- Great Barrington Declaration (30,000+ doctors, scientists, et al. disagreeing with lockdowns and OTHER EXPERTS; i.e. the experts don't all agree)
- Have mask mandates failed? Quite possibly.
- Alex Berenson on Twitter (lots of data, research, analysis of what is working and what isn't)
- Ethical Skeptic on Twitter (statistical analysis of what is really happening)
- Italy did everything right to stop a second wave. What went wrong?
- A tale of two lockdowns: Sweden vs. the Philippines
- MaskUpMN: Showing how their own data goes against the narrative
- 12 graphs show mask mandates do not stop the virus
- Gov. Burgum acknowledges mask mandates don't correlate with cases reducing
- Danish Newspaper Reveals Largest Study on Masks has been Rejected by Three Medical Journals (not because it's not scientific, but because the results aren't what the experts want to hear)
- Masks have unhealthy chemicals that can cause serious lung problems
- Open Letter from Medical Doctors and Health Professionals to All Belgian Authorities and All Belgian Media
- Birx concerned about MN rising cases. MN, who has had a mask mandate FOR MONTHS
- Masks delay the inevitable acceptance of Covid-19 reality
- Interactive Tool: Masks & Covid-19
- The Year of Disguises
- Asymptomatic Spread Revisited
- Wearing a Used Mask Could Be Worse Than Wearing No Mask
Studies:
- Effectiveness of Adding a Mask Recommendation to Other Public Health Measures to Prevent SARS-CoV-2 Infection in Danish Mask Wearers
- A cluster randomised trial of cloth masks compared with medical masks in healthcare workers
- The physiological impact of wearing an N95 mask during hemodialysis as a precaution against SARS in patients with end-stage renal disease
- Preliminary report on surgical mask induced deoxygenation during major surgery
- A cluster randomised trial of cloth masks compared with medical masks in healthcare workers
- N95 Respirators vs Medical Masks for Preventing Influenza Among Health Care Personnel: A Randomized Clinical Trial
- Hypercapnia impaired cognitive and memory functions in obese patients with obstructive sleep apnoea
- Chronic hypoxia-hypercapnia influences cognitive function: a possible new model of cognitive dysfunction in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease
- The Physiological Impact of N95 Masks on Medical Staff
- A cluster randomised trial of cloth masks compared with medical masks in healthcare workers
- Simple respiratory protection--evaluation of the filtration performance of cloth masks and common fabric materials against 20-1000 nm size particles
- Cluster randomised controlled trial to examine medical mask use as source control for people with respiratory illness
- A cluster randomized clinical trial comparing fit-tested and non-fit-tested N95 respirators to medical masks to prevent respiratory virus infection in health care workers
- Ultraviolet germicidal irradiation of influenza-contaminated N95 filtering facepiece respirators
- Relative survival of Bacillus subtilis spores loaded on filtering facepiece respirators after five decontamination methods
- Evaluating the efficacy of cloth facemasks in reducing particulate matter exposure
- N95 Respirators vs Medical Masks for Preventing Influenza Among Health Care Personnel: A Randomized Clinical Trial (here also)
- The use of masks and respirators to prevent transmission of influenza: a systematic review of the scientific evidence (here also)
- Influenza Virus in Human Exhaled Breath: An Observational Study
- History of surgical face masks
- Facemasks for the prevention of infection in healthcare and community settings
- Evaluation of N95 respirator use with a surgical mask cover: effects on breathing resistance and inhaled carbon dioxide
- Effects of Ultraviolet Germicidal Irradiation (UVGI) on N95 Respirator Filtration Performance and Structural Integrity
- Respiratory virus shedding in exhaled breath and efficacy of face masks
- Simple Respiratory Protection—Evaluation of the Filtration Performance of Cloth Masks and Common Fabric Materials Against 20–1000 nm Size Particles
- Use of surgical face masks to reduce the incidence of the common cold among health care workers in Japan: a randomized controlled trial
- Effectiveness of Masks and Respirators Against Respiratory Infections in Healthcare Workers: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis (here also)
- Face masks to prevent transmission of influenza virus: a systematic review
- Testing the Efficacy of Homemade Masks: Would They Protect in an Influenza Pandemic?
- Do N95 respirators provide 95% protection level against airborne viruses, and how adequate are surgical masks?
- Effectiveness of N95 respirators versus surgical masks againstinfluenza: A systematic review and meta-analysis
- Mathematical Modeling of the Effectiveness of Facemasks in Reducing the Spread of Novel Influenza A (H1N1)
- Effectiveness of facemasks to reduce exposure hazards for airborne infections among general populations
- Impact of Atmospheric Dispersion and Transport of Viral Aerosols on the Epidemiology of Influenza
- Minimum Infective Dose of the Major Human Respiratory and Enteric Viruses Transmitted Through Food and the Environment
- Concentrations and size distributions of airborne influenza A viruses measured indoors at a health centre, a day-care centre and on aeroplanes
- Predominant Role of Bacterial Pneumonia as a Cause of Death in Pandemic Influenza: Implications for Pandemic Influenza Preparedness (consider the bacterial issues with wearing masks, and how the unmasked buried the masked during Spanish Flu; contributor to study includes Dr. Fauci)
- Lockdowns have failed around the world (Collection of studies on the lockdowns)
- Effectiveness of Cloth Masks for Protection Against Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2
Cowling, B. et al. (2010) "Face masks to prevent transmission of influenza virus: A systematic review," Epidemiology and Infection, 138(4), 449-456. DOI:10.1017/S0950268809991658 -- None of the studies reviewed showed the benefit of wearing a mask in either HCW or community members in households (H). See summary Tables 1 and 2 therein.
bin-Reza et al. (2012), "The use of masks and respirators to prevent transmission of influenza: a systematic review of the scientific evidence," Influenza and Other Respiratory Viruses 6(4), 257-267. -- "There were 17 eligible studies. [...] None of the studies established a conclusive relationship between mask/respirator use and protection against influenza infection."
Smith, J.D. et al. (2016) "Effectiveness of N95 respirators versus surgical masks in protecting health care workers from acute respiratory infection: a systematic review and meta-analysis", CMAJ Mar 2016, cmaj.150835; DOI: 10.1503/cmaj.150835 -- "We identified 6 clinical studies ... In the meta-analysis of the clinical studies, we found no significant difference between N95 respirators and surgical masks in the associated risk of (a) laboratory-confirmed respiratory infection, (b) influenza-like illness, or (c) reported work-place absenteeism."
Offeddu, V. et al. (2017) "Effectiveness of Masks and Respirators Against Respiratory Infections in Healthcare Workers: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis," Clinical Infectious Diseases, Volume 65, Issue 11, 1 December 2017, Pages 1934-1942, https://doi.org/10.1093/cid/cix681
- Do used and loaded masks become sources of enhanced transmission, for the wearer and others?
- Do masks become collectors and retainers of pathogens that the mask wearer would otherwise avoid when breathing without a mask?
- Are large droplets captured by a mask atomized or aerosolized into breathable components? Can virions escape an evaporating droplet stuck to a mask fiber?
- What are the dangers of bacterial growth on a used and loaded mask?
- How do pathogen-laden droplets interact with environmental dust and aerosols captured on the mask?
- What are long-term health effects on HCW, such as headaches, arising from impeded breathing?
- Are there negative social consequences to a masked society?
- Are there negative psychological consequences of wearing a mask, as a fear-based behavioral modification?
- What are the environmental consequences of mask manufacturing and disposal?
- Do the masks shed fibers or substances that are harmful when inhaled?
Julie,
ReplyDeleteI'd like to publish this article this week.
Denise Westad
That's fine, go ahead.
Delete