Science Confirms: Masks Don't Work

Cochrane came out with a new meta-analysis of mask studies.  Cochrane is pretty much the gold standard of meta-analysis reviews. 

The Cochrane review found, “The pooled results of RCTs did not show a clear reduction in respiratory viral infection with the use of medical/surgical masks. There were no clear differences between the use of medical/surgical masks compared with N95/P2 respirators in healthcare workers when used in routine care to reduce respiratory viral infection. Hand hygiene is likely to modestly reduce the burden of respiratory illness, and although this effect was also present when ILI and laboratory-confirmed influenza were analysed separately, it was not found to be a significant difference for the latter two outcomes. Harms associated with physical interventions were under-investigated”1

As the Cochrane study notes, the harms associated with masking were under-investigated.  This separate study found that, “Use of face masks (KN95 and valved-respirator) resulted in significant increases in CO2 concentrations, which exceeded the 8-h NIOSH exposure threshold limit value-weighted average (TLV-TWA). “

posted from Michael’s Substack