Tag: face masks

No proof face masks ever worked against Covid, claims UKHSA boss who warns they may have even had OPPOSITE effect on spread through ‘false sense of security’


There is no solid proof masks ever slowed the spread of Covid, England’s former deputy chief medical officer said today.

Professor Dame Jenny Harries, who now heads up the UK Health Security Agency, said the evidence that coverings reduced transmission is ‘uncertain’ because it is difficult to separate their effect from other Covid curbs.

She also told the UK’s Covid inquiry that government advice on how to make a mask using two pieces of cloth was ‘ineffective’.

Studies showed at least three were needed for even a small effect on the spread of viruses, Dame Jenny said. 

Meanwhile, she warned advice for the public to wear masks during the pandemic may even have given people a ‘false sense of security’ that they could reduce their risk of becoming infected if they wore one while mixing with others.

Dame Jenny wrote in her witness statement that the evidence base for using face masks in the community ‘was, and still is to some degree, uncertain’. 

She noted that the evidence for mask wearing varied depending on what materials it was made from. For example, a ‘one or two layer cloth covering’ is ‘not particularly effective’, she said.

And if someone doesn’t wear it properly – fully covering the mouth and nose – ‘it won’t work’, Dame Jenny added.

The inquiry was shown guidance on how people can make their own face masks from the first wave of the pandemic.

In response to the proposals in May 2020, Dame Jenny wrote that advice to use one or two pieces of fabric was ‘ineffective’.

Keep reading

Masks required in certain settings again in California

Beginning on Wednesday, lots of people heading into doctor’s offices or hospitals across the Bay Area will be required to mask up.

In some parts of California, masks will be required in hospitals and skilled nursing facilities in an effort to limit the spread of RSV, the flu and COVID. The mandate will last until the end of flu season in March.

Marin County and Santa Clara counties require everyone who enters medical facilities to mask up.  Alameda, San Mateo, Contra Costa, and Sonoma counties will require health care workers to mask up in patient care areas. 

In California, COVID positivity rates were on the rise starting in July, and peaked in late August. According to the Mercury News, wastewater data shows medium levels of COVID in all of Santa Clara County’s sewer sheds at the end of October, down from high transmission range over the last two months.

Dr. Peter Chin-Hong told KTVU medical professional don’t know what is going to happen during this flu season, so they’re opting to take a precautious approach. 

Though, not everyone in the health care industry agrees. 

Keep reading

“That Simply Doesn’t Make Sense”: Lead Author Of Cochrane Mask Review Responds To Fauci’s Dismissal Of Evidence

Former chief medical advisor to the US President Anthony Fauci was questioned over the weekend by CNN reporter Michael Smerconish, about face masks being able to curb the spread of covid-19.

“There’s no doubt that masks work,” said Fauci.

“Different studies give different percentages of advantage of wearing it, but there’s no doubt that the weight of the studies … indicate the benefit of wearing masks,” he added.

Smerconish brought up the 2023 Cochrane review which found no evidence that physical interventions like face masks could stop viral transmission in the community and cited my interview with lead author of the study Tom Jefferson who confirmed, “There is just no evidence that they [masks] make any difference. Full stop.”

Keep reading

These Schools Across the US Have Brought Back Mask Mandates

Amid a small increase in COVID-19 hospital admissions in recent days, a handful of schools and colleges across the United States have re-imposed mask mandates—or at least started recommending them.

In the most recent example, a school in Montgomery County, Maryland, announced it would mandate masking for at least 10 days after three students tested positive for the virus in one classroom. The masking rule applies to students, teachers, and other staff in the classroom, it said.

A letter posted by the  Rosemary Hills School online said that KN95 masks have been distributed to students and teachers in the classroom. At-home rapid testing kits were also sent home.

“Additional KN95 masks have been distributed and students and staff in identified classes or activities will be required to mask while in school for the next 10 days, except while eating or drinking,” Principal Rebecca Irwin Kennedy said in a letter, dated Sept. 5.

The re-imposition of mandates is being done “to keep our school environment as safe as possible for in-person teaching and learning, and to prevent further transmission of COVID-19 in this group,” she continued.

The Montgomery County school district policy says that masks are optional, with some exceptions, according to a message viewed by local station WTOP-TV. The district said that in certain instances, “masks may be recommended or required.”

Keep reading

Masks don’t work against COVID-19 and Dr. Fauci should use one to gag himself

First, Anthony Fauci pokes his head up to claim, against all evidence, that masks do stop COVID-19 after all. 

Then, right on cue, the White House announces that Fauci’s No. 1 fan, President Biden, will be “masking indoors” after the double-vaccinated, twice-boosted first lady contracted the virus for the third time in 13 months. 

Then Whoopi Goldberg, who once declared she was “boosted within an inch of your life,” goes missing from “The View” with her third bout of COVID. 

“As you can see, Whoopi is not here,” co-host Joy Behar said Tuesday.

“She has COVID. It’s back! It’s back!” 

Co-host Ana Navarro exclaimed to the live audience: “Clap if you had your third booster!” 

The ladies were fairly giddy with excitement over the imminent return of the “plague.” 

Keep reading

Maryland School Implements New Mask Mandate

An elementary school in Maryland has reinstated mandatory mask requirements, as Joe Biden appeared in front of the press wearing a face covering Tuesday.

Rosemary Hills Elementary School in Silver Spring, a wealthy DC suburb, has brought back the mask mandate for students and staff, and added that the coverings should be N95 masks.

The school sent out a letter informing parents they have taken the decision after just THREE students tested positive for COVID.

“Additional KN95 masks have been distributed and students and staff in identified classes or activities will be required to mask while in school for the next 10 days, except while eating or drinking. Masks will become options again following the 10-day period,” the letter states.

We’ve heard that one before.

“At-home rapid test kids will be sent home and made available for students,” Principal Irwin Kennedy further notes, adding that CDC guidance decrees that testing should be done “5 days after an exposure (starting day 6)” or at such time as symptoms occur.

“We will continue to reinforce good hand washing and follow cleaning and disinfection procedures,” the letter further states.

The move comes as Joe Biden donned a face diaper as he arrived at a White House gathering, before removing it altogether.

Keep reading

‘More subterfuge!’ Anthony Fauci is branded a ‘fraud’ and a ‘liar’ after admitting there IS a lack of evidence showing mask mandates stopped the COVID pandemic

Dr Anthony Fauci has been branded a ‘fraud’ and a ‘liar’ after admitting there is now a lack of evidence to suggest wearing a mask helped stop the spread of COVID.

The immunologist, who retired from public service in December, was roundly slammed over the weekend after he said ‘the data are less strong’ now.

Some online accused him of ‘more subterfuge’ after he still called on Americans to cover up as cases start to spike once more.

While others took a stronger stance and said he was ‘smoked’ as more statistics and research is done on wearing masks during the pandemic.

‘When you’re talking about the effect on the epidemic or the pandemic as a whole, the data are less strong,’ Fauci admitted to CNN’s Michael Smerconish.

‘But there are other studies that show at an individual level, for individuals,’ they might be protective, he said.

The former health chief was responding to questions about a study by Tom Jefferson, a senior associate tutor at Oxford University, whose research concluded ‘there is just no evidence that they – masks – make any difference. Full stop.’

Social media users exploded at the findings and Fauci’s response, branding him full of ‘bullsh*t’.

‘Fauci admits that masks don’t work for the public at large but still absurdly claims masks work on an individual basis. More subterfuge,’ wrote Senator Rand Paul.

Conservative political commentator Buck Sexton went further branding Fauci a ‘fraud and a liar.’

‘Fauci confronted with most definitive data analysis possible that masks make ZERO difference against Covid. Not a little, not slight- Zero. And he just mutters some numerical illiteracy bulls it about ‘individual protection.’ He’s a fraud and a liar.’

Keep reading

Mask study published by NIH suggests N95 Covid masks may expose wearers to dangerous level of toxic compounds linked to seizures and cancer

The surgical N95 mask has been held up as the gold standard when it comes to protecting against Covid. 

But a study quietly re-shared by the National Institutes of Health in spring suggests the tight-fitting mask may expose users to dangerous levels of toxic chemicals.

Researchers from Jeonbuk National University in South Korea looked at two types of disposable medical-grade masks, as well as several reusable cotton masks. 

The study found that the chemicals released by these masks had eight times the recommended safety limit of toxic volatile organic compounds (TVOCs).

Inhaling TVOCs has been linked to health issues like headaches and nausea, while prolonged and repeated has been linked to organ damage and even cancer.

Keep reading

Secret Letter to CDC: Top Epidemiologist Suggests Agency Misrepresented Scientific Data to Support Mask Narrative

Documents recently obtained from the National Institutes of Health suggest public health officials used inaccurate information and misrepresented medical research to advance their policy objective that masks prevent severe COVID-19 and virus transmission—despite opposing scientific evidence received from experts.

In a recently obtained letter (pdf) sent in November 2021 to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), top epidemiologist Michael Osterholm, director of the Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy at the University of Minnesota, and seven colleagues informed the agency it was promoting flawed data and excluding data that did not reinforce their narrative.

The letter warned the agency that misrepresenting data on trusted websites such as the CDC and the COVID-19 Real-Time Learning Network—jointly created by the CDC and Infectious Diseases Society of America (IDSA)—would “damage the credibility of science,” endanger public trust by “misrepresenting the evidence,” and give the public “false expectations” masking would protect them from the SARS-CoV-2 virus that causes COVID-19.

“We believe the information and recommendations as provided may actually put an individual at increased risk of becoming infected with SARS-CoV-2 and for them to experience a serious or even life-threatening infection,” Mr. Osterhom wrote.

The authors urged the IDSA to remove the suggestion that masking prevents severe disease from its website and asked the CDC to reconsider its statements about the “efficacy of masks and face coverings for preventing transmission of SARS-CoV-2.”

Osterholm also noted a pattern of selectively choosing data that supported the desired narrative that masks prevent severe COVID-19 disease and transmission—claims he said are unsupported by the scientific evidence provided by the CDC and IDSA on their websites.

Keep reading