Nope, masks do not work.
A new scientific review suggests that widespread masking may have done little to nothing to curb the transmission of COVID-19.
The following are TRUE based on SCIENCE! To deny or dispute it makes you a SCIENCE DENIER!
1. Masks do not work
2. Covid-19 vaccination does not stop you from getting Covid-19
3. Covid-19 vaccination can kill you
https://www.yahoo.com/news/face-mask...001748577.html
Originally Posted by ChopSuey
If you read the Cochrane paper, you'll see the authors have little confidence in their conclusions:
"There is uncertainty about the effects of face masks. The low to moderate certainty of evidence means our confidence in the effect estimate is limited, and that the true effect may be different from the observed estimate of the effect."
https://www.cochranelibrary.com/cdsr...6207.pub6/full
They looked mostly at influenza studies, not coronavirus studies. So perhaps the paper does back up the CDC's recommendation to the public, that wearing masks to prevent influenza isn't necessary.
Did you read Marc Siegel's comments in the Yahoo article? Siegel, who practices at NYU Langone, also runs the Doctor Radio channel on Sirius XM. He's a frequent commentator on Fox News. He certainly doesn't believe the Cochrane study should persuade you that masks are useless.
The last time I looked at the literature on masks and COVID, about a year or two ago, I was convinced the good quality masks worked for SARS and COVID. Related thoughts are probably in the Shithole Countries Wear Masks thread,
https://www.eccie.net/showthread.php?t=2707468
I did another quick search about a month ago, and this was what I found.
I only came up with five more-or-less noteworthy papers published in 2022, and they all appeared in the first half of the year. This is perhaps the best, as it provides summaries of relevant studies.
https://www.futuremedicine.com/doi/f.../fvl-2021-0032
This paper kind of leaves you hanging, with no clear cut call one way or the other. Reading the summaries, the pro-mask case is more convincing to me.
The next paper also is of particular interest as it's the only one I found that extended through Omicron. Prior to July, 2021, participants who didn't wear masks every day were 66% more likely to report a COVID infection than those who wore masks daily. During the Delta period, the percentage dropped to 53%, and during Omicron to 16%:
https://www.sciencedirect.com/scienc...96655322007271
The other three papers aren't as noteworthy, but I'll include them below anyway. They support wearing masks.
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8830622/
https://www.healthaffairs.org/doi/fu...aff.2021.01072
https://wwwnc.cdc.gov/eid/article/28/1/21-1591_article
I've gotten the COVID vaccine and three boosters, and judiciously wear KN95 masks. I've only gotten one cold since COVID started, in February, 2020. I used to get around three a year.
The Cochrane paper isn't going to affect my mask wearing. I'll probably continue to wear a mask several times a week, when I'm in a crowded indoor area besides a restaurant. Why not? I don't see any downside.