- Cashiers wear protective masks in a grocery store in New York City on April 2, 2020. This is an example of the widespread adoption of masks during the pandemic.
- The most rigorous and extensive review of the scientific literature concludes that neither surgical masks nor N95 masks have been shown to make a difference in reducing the spread of Covid-19 and other respiratory illnesses. This is the most authoritative estimate of the value provided by wearing masks during the pandemic.
- Before the pandemic, clinical trials repeatedly showed little or no benefit from wearing masks in preventing the spread of respiratory illnesses like flu and colds. This is why the World Health Organization, the CDC, and other national public health agencies did not recommend masking the public before the pandemic.
- The gold standard for medical evidence is the randomized clinical trial, and the gold standard for analyzing this evidence is Cochrane. Cochrane is the world’s largest and most respected organization for evaluating health interventions.
- It has published a new Cochrane review of the literature on masks, including trials during the Covid-19 pandemic in hospitals and in community settings. This review concludes that wearing any kind of face covering “probably makes little or no difference” in reducing the spread of respiratory illness.
- Masks cause social, psychological, and medical problems, including a constellation of maladies called “Mask-Induced Exhaustion Syndrome.” This is a potential downside to wearing masks that is often overlooked.
- Public health officials continue recommending or mandating masks without good evidence of their effectiveness or any pretense of cost-benefit analysis. This is in violation of the first-do-no-harm principle.
- The CDC’s director, Rochelle Walensky, remains determined to ignore the best research on masks. This is despite the lack of evidence that masks make any difference.
- The CDC repeatedly cherry-picked observational data, crediting masks for a short-term reduction in Covid rates in some localities while ignoring contrary data from more systematic analyses. This is an example of the CDC’s disregard for the best available evidence.
- Can anything persuade the maskaholics in the public health establishment and the public to give up their obsession? This is an important question that needs to be answered in order to move forward.
Published February 27, 2023
Visit The Free Press to read John Tierney’s original post The Real Science on Masks: They Make No Difference