Face Masks and Social Distancing

"Despite that law, the number of declared emergencies has only grown in the ensuing years. And it is hard not to wonder whether, after nearly a half century and in light of our Nation’s recent experience, another look is warranted. It is hard not to wonder, too, whether state legislatures might profitably reexamine the proper scope of emergency executive powers at the state level. At the very least, one can hope that the Judiciary will not soon again allow itself to be part of the problem by permitting litigants to manip- ulate our docket to perpetuate a decree designed for one emergency to address another. Make no mistake—decisive executive action is sometimes necessary and appropriate. But if emergency decrees promise to solve some problems, they threaten to generate others. And rule by indefinite emergency edict risks leaving all of us with a shell of a democracy and civil liberties just as hollow."


Statement of GORSUCH, J.

SUPREME COURT OF THE UNITED STATES

ARIZONA, ET AL. v. ALEJANDRO MAYORKAS, SECRETARY OF HOMELAND SECURITY, ET AL.

May 18, 2023


California Face Coverings


Face Masks: Discrimination and the Americans with Disabilities Act

Face Cover Letter Template Discrimination

Have you been denied entrance to a building and refused a reasonable accommodation?


Please use our face mask discrimination template letter right here on our website.


The CA Dept of Health exempts persons with a medical condition, metal health condition or disability, including persons with a medical condition for whom wearing a face covering could obstruct breathing or who otherwise is unable to remove a face covering without assistance as well as persons who are hearing impaired or communicating with a person who is hearing impaired from wearing a face covering. https://www.cdph.ca.gov/Programs/CID/DCDC/Pages/COVID-19/guidance-for-face-coverings.aspx


The CDC also acknowledges that children younger than 2, anyone who has trouble breathing or otherwise unable to remove a cloth face covering without assistance should not wear a cloth face covering. The CDC goes on to acknowledge that "in some situations, wearing a cloth face covering may exacerbate a physical or mental health condition, lead to a medical emergency or introduce significant safety concerns" and gives examples of such persons as those with intellectual or developmental disabilities, including, but not limited to mental health conditions and sensory sensitivities. https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/prevent-getting-sick/cloth-face-cover-guidance.html


https://www.who.int/news-room/q-a-detail/q-a-children-and-masks-related-to-covid-19


Should children with developmental disabilities wear masks?


The use of masks for children of any age with developmental disorders, disabilities or other specific health conditions should not be mandatory and be assessed on a case by case basis by the child’s parent, guardian, educator and/or medical provider. In any case, children with severe cognitive or respiratory impairments with difficulties tolerating a mask should not be required to wear masks.


Did you know that if you are denied entrance to a public or private institution you can request a reasonable accommodation or modification?


If the institution refuses to provide you a reasonable accommodation or modification or imposes additional fees to do so, you can file a federal complaint through the US Department of Justice:

https://civilrights.justice.gov/report/


You can file a civil rights complaint with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Office for Civil Rights, electronically through the Office for Civil Rights Complaint Portal, available at https://ocrportal.hhs.gov/ocr/portal/lobby.jsf


If you are filing a complaint against a business, please utilize this form:

https://www.ada.gov/filing_complaint.htm


If you are filing a complaint against an educational institution, please utilize this form:

https://www2.ed.gov/about/offices/list/ocr/complaintintro.html?fbclid=IwAR38wlau-0M3yeN8AKhNQhUsHh6KXAy2zc3doiomN2HBd6VZImCU4qY2Sp0


If you have been denied a reasonable modification or accommodation with an air carrier/airline, you can file a complaint with the Department of Transportation here:

https://www.transportation.gov/airconsumer/file-consumer-complaint


If you have been discriminated against due to your disability, please speak out.  Protect your right to the ADA!


February 4, 2021 CDC  Requirement for Face Masks on Public Transportation Conveyances and at Transportation Hubs

The following categories of people are exempt from the requirement to wear a mask:

  • A child under the age of 2 years;
  • A person with a disability who cannot wear a mask, or cannot safely wear a mask, for reasons related to the disability;
  • A person for whom wearing a mask would create a risk to workplace health, safety, or job duty as determined by the relevant workplace safety guidelines or federal regulations.


Federal Laws including 21 US Code, 360bbb-3  



Discrimination cases


Disney can't dodge mom's lawsuit after autistic son was barred from Lehigh Valley Mall store for not wearing mask June 17, 2021 (Disney Store)


7 year old with Autism discriminated by Disney World


NYC Mom and Six Children Kicked off Flight 2 year old could not wear a mask


Family kicked off Southwest flight because 3 year old boy with autism could not wear a mask


Disney World bars Autistic Child who can't wear a mask from entering park


Local mom fighting to change mask mandates for those with disabilities


Mother and 5-year old with autism kicked off Southwest flight for not wearing mask


3 year old with autism banned from airline over not wearing mask, Chicago family says


AMC Theater Orders Police to remove disabled child that cannot wear a face mask


LITIGATION


NJ Court Rules Refusal to Wear a Mask Not Protected by the First Amendment February 20, 2024

"According to their attorneys, Plaintiffs plan to petition to get the case heard by the Supreme Court."


US appeals court vacates travel mask mandate ruling June 22, 2023

"The plaintiffs who sued to overturn the mask mandate had urged the court not to dismiss the case. They included five individuals who did not want to wear masks on flights including a person diagnosed with anxiety. They argued vacating the opinion "would give CDC the ability to do this - or something like it - again while evading review in this court."



IN THE UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE ELEVENTH CIRCUIT

_________________
HEALTH FREEDOM DEFENSE FUND, INC., et al.,

Plaintiffs-Appellees, v.

JOSEPH R. BIDEN, JR., President of the United States, et al., Defendants-Appellants.



REPORTS

QUESTIONS FOR A COVID-19 COMMISSION BY THE NORFOLK GROUP

FIRST INTERIM REPORT OF THE TWENTY-SECOND STATEWIDE GRAND JURY (FLORIDA) February 2, 2024


Face Masks and Harm


https://bmjopen.bmj.com/content/bmjopen/5/4/e006577.full.pdf

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4420971/ 

https://medicalxpress.com/news/2015-04-masksdangerous-health.html

https://www.researchgate.net/publication/275360639_A_cluster_randomised_trial_of_cloth_masks_compared_with_medical_masks_in_healthcare_workers

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2015/04/150422121724.htm?fbclid=IwAR39vUkVXA8wpV0491BeYWXzUAZicTCIZa3T1KPwDvIlw2pv2JUIhUmeZ1Q

 "This study is the first RCT of cloth masks, and the results caution against the use of cloth masks. This is an important finding to inform occupational health and safety. Moisture retention, reuse of cloth masks and poor filtration may result in increased risk of infection."


https://pdmj.org/

Primary Doctor Medical Journal

"If widespread masking continues , then the potential for inhaling mask fibers and environmental and biological debris continues on a daily basis for hundreds of millions of people. This should be alarming for physicians and epidemiologists knowledgeable in occupational hazards."


"Masks have also been demonstrated historically to contribute to increased infections within the respiratory tract. We have examined the common occurrence of oral and nasal pathogens accessing deeper tissues and blood, and potential consequences of such events. We have demonstrated from the clinical and historical data cited herein, we conclude the use of face masks will contribute to far more morbidity and mortality than has occurred due to COVID-19."


https://pdmj.org/papers/masks_false_safety_and_real_dangers_part1  July 6, 2020

"If widespread masking continues, then the potential for inhaling mask fibers and environmental and biological debris continues on a daily basis for hundreds of millions of people. This should be alarming for physicians and epidemiologists knowledgeable in occupational hazards."


https://www.primarydoctor.org/censorship-vs-the-scienc-on-masks

"Why do we connect the bacterial pneumonia deaths that wiped out so many people, some estimate 45 million of the 50 million who died in the “Spanish Flu,” to masks? We cite a number of reasons:

 

- Temporal / historical: That 1918-1919 pandemic was the last time that Americans had experimented with masks. That includes all-day masks, mask shaming, mask mandates and ubiquitous puritanical measures taken to assure that most people were not caught without a mask in public. Then as now, there is a rise in bacterial pneumonia in hospitals. But now, there is vastly deeper pharmaceutical industry involvement in the mass media. So the rise in bacterial pneumonia, as well as other staph and strep infections, is seen and heard anecdotally so far from doctors and nurses seeing this increase ourselves in clinical practice, as the mainstream media ignores that phenomenon to focus on COVID-19.

 

- Both in the 1918-1919 pandemic and now in 2020, masked individuals are found to suffer more influenza-like illness and more respiratory illnesses than unmasked individuals, as we reference and discuss in our paper, linked below.

 

- In our paper, we also discuss air flow dynamics in mask use and that upper respiratory microbes are more likely to enter deeply into the lungs of a masked individual. There, microbes are more life-threatening and harder to eliminate by expectoration and normal ciliary escalation. It is expected that mask-wearers have a higher risk of bacterial pneumonia than non-mask wearers.

 

Here is our paper on the subject:

https://pdmj.org/Mask_Risks_Part2.pdf "


https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7537728/

"By putting several top-selling medical face masks and N95 respirators under microscopes, however, we saw abundant loosely attached debris on their inner facings, some showing the morphology of fibers and others as particles, in the micron and sub-micron ranges (Fig. 1 ). These could be either self-carried, or contaminants during their manufacturing process, or even from their plastic packaging – most of the products were packed in plastic bags to maintain sterility. While more rigorous studies are undoubtedly needed, these images offer a glimpse of the issue. With an ongoing shortage from the major suppliers and a myriad of products with countless brands currently offered in the market, it seems inevitable that some products would present similarly, if not more, abundant respirable debris, given that there is no such regulation in place. Whether these plastic debris could cause stress and inflammation in the human respiratory tract and exacerbate vulnerability to viral infection is a further question that warrants investigation "


https://clinmedjournals.org/articles/jide/journal-of-infectious-diseases-and-epidemiology-jide-6-130.pdf 2020

"Prolonged use of N95 and surgical masks by healthcare professionals during COVID-19 has caused ad- verse effects such as headaches, rash, acne, skin break- down, and impaired cognition in the majority of those surveyed."


https://www.ed.ac.uk/news/all-news/nanofibres-220812

"Nanofibres, which can be made from a range of materials including carbon, are about 1,000 times smaller than the width of a human hair and can reach the lung cavity when inhaled.

This may lead to a cancer known as mesothelioma, which is known to be caused by breathing in asbestos fibres, which are similar to nanofibres."


https://www.aier.org/article/masking-children-tragic-unscientific-and-damaging/

"Preventing children from such interactions with nature and germs can and does lead to overwhelming infections and serious consequences to the health and life of a child. We might be setting up our children for future disaster when they emerge from societal restrictions fully and with no masks, to then be at the mercy of normally benign opportunistic infections with a now weakened immune system. This cannot be disregarded as we consider the consequences of our actions today in this pandemic and the questionable lockdowns, school closures, and mask policies. "


https://academic.oup.com/jid/article/198/7/962/2192118

David M.. Morens, Jeffery K. Taubenberger, Anthony S. Fauci October 1, 2008

Mask Mandates?

"The majority of deaths in the 1918–1919 influenza pandemic likely resulted directly from secondary bacterial pneumonia caused by common upper respiratory-tract bacteria."


https://www.thelastamericanvagabond.com/pulmonary-specialist-speaks-out-health-risks-wearing-masks-lies-surrounding-covid-19/

WATCH VIDEO ON SITE and see the extensive studies and articles on the website as well


"Dr. Sterling Simpson MD, a double boarded pulmonary specialist here to discuss his dissenting views on numerous topics of paramount importance, each of which we have discussed at length here at The Last American Vagabond, and all surrounding the COVID-19 scandal. His professional opinions, despite being deemed “controversial,” are currently supported by countless experts and medical professionals around the world." 


https://www.meehanmd.com/blog/2020-10-10-an-evidence-based-scientific-analysis-of-why-masks-are-ineffective-unnecessary-and-harmful/

"Masks are Harmful: 17 Ways That Masks Can Cause Harm

As a physician and former medical journal editor, I've carefully read the scientific literature regarding the use of face masks to mitigate viral transmission. I believe the public health experts have community wearing of masks all wrong. "


https://markcrispinmiller.com/2020/10/that-mask-is-giving-you-lung-cancer/

"1. Masks are “sterilized” with Ethylene Oxide — a known carcinogen. Many teachers in various school boards have been experiencing significant symptoms as a direct result of the effects of this chemical. 2. The masks contain (not sprayed with) PTFE which makes up Teflon along with other chemicals. I found and have posted the US patent to allow manufacturers to use PTFE as a filter in commercial masks… “breathing these for extended periods can lead to lung cancer.”"


..."Re-breathing your own viral debris is dangerous to health, and the oxygen deprivation children suffer wearing such masks all day will certainly cause brain damage." 


https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4202234/

"This present study revealed that the high bacterial contamination on the outside area of the used surgical masks had significantly positive correlation with bacterial and fungal counts found in air samples that were collected from the working wards. "


https://www.rcreader.com/commentary/still-no-conclusive-evidence-justifying-mandatory-masks#overlay-context=commentary/still-no-conclusive-evidence-justifying-mandatory-masks

“What is the big deal? What harm can wearing a mask do?”


It is an enormous deal for compelling reasons that include:


(1) Mandatory mask-wearing has no conclusive scientific basis for such an extreme mandated measure;


(2) OSHA strictly regulates mask-wearing in workplaces, imposing rigid protocols precisely because mask-wearing for prolonged periods has very real, identified dangers associated with such requirements;


(3) Mask-wearing for prolonged periods has well-documented negative impacts on health, including reduced oxygen, increased carbon dioxide, adverse skin reactions, and the triggering of latent viruses and/or bacteria otherwise dormant in humans, causing illness;


(4) There is growing concern and recent evidence that reduced oxygen levels awakening dormant viruses are resulting in positive COVID tests because humans have an abundance of other dormant coronaviruses at any given time;


(5) Accumulation of bacteria, viruses, particles, droplets, spittal, dirt, makeup, food, all contributing to trapped pools of contaminants behind masks, and around the gaps and outer edges, that can transfer on;


(6) a false sense of security when near “at-risk” loved ones believe they are protected by their masks;


(7) One quarter of one percent lethality is non-compelling justification for healthy people to wear masks to protect others when 99.75 percent of those who contract COVID will not perish and the majority of those who will die from COVID have comorbidity complications;


(8) A perverse policy that threatens psychological damage from a constant manufactured message of fear of others, and of the environment, evidenced by an ever-masked population;


(9) A violation of each individual's natural right to control his/her own body and the risks that accrue;


(10) The lack of an iron-clad, unambiguous, and uncontroversial justification before any government/health authority is permitted a scintilla of jurisdiction over our livelihoods, our natural rights to live, survive, thrive as a response to any public threat.


https://healthandmoneynews.wordpress.com/2020/10/09/brain-damage-from-masks-cannot-be-reversed/amp/.

Dr. Margarite Griesz-Brisson MD, PhD is a Consultant Neurologist and Neurophysiologist with a PhD in Pharmacology, with special interest in neurotoxicology, environmental medicine, neuroregeneration and neuroplasticity. 

"While you’re thinking, that you have gotten used to wearing your mask and rebreathing your own exhaled air, the degenerative processes in your brain are getting amplified as your oxygen deprivation continues.


The second problem is that the nerve cells in your brain are unable to divide themselves normally. So in case our governments will generously allow as to get rid of the masks and go back to breathing oxygen freely again in a few months, the lost nerve cells will no longer be regenerated. What is gone is gone."


https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/23514282/

"The results showed that phonic respiration and low work rates contributed to significantly higher levels of CO2 rebreathing. "


http://scielo.isciii.es/pdf/neuro/v19n2/3.pdf

"Considering our findings, pulse rates of the surgeon's increase and SpO2 decrease after the

first hour. This early change in SpO2 may be either due to the facial mask or the operational stress. Since a very small decrease in saturation at this level, reflects a large decrease in PaO2, our findings may have a clinical value for the health workers and the surgeons."


https://aricjournal.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s13756-015-0086-z

"Breathing through N95 mask materials have been shown to impede gaseous exchange and impose an additional workload on the metabolic system of pregnant healthcare workers, and this needs to be taken into consideration in guidelines for respirator use."


https://headachejournal.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/head.13811

" A pre‐existing primary headache diagnosis (OR = 4.20, 95% CI 1.48‐15.40; P = .030) and combined PPE usage for >4 hours per day (OR 3.91, 95% CI 1.35‐11.31; P = .012) were independently associated with de novo PPE‐associated headaches. Since COVID‐19 outbreak, 42/46 (91.3%) of respondents with pre‐existing headache diagnosis either “agreed” or “strongly agreed” that the increased PPE usage had affected the control of their background headaches, which affected their level of work performance."


https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s00392-020-01704-y

"Ventilation, cardiopulmonary exercise capacity and comfort are reduced by surgical masks and highly impaired by FFP2/N95 face masks in healthy individuals. These data are important for recommendations on wearing face masks at work or during physical exercise."

"Medical face masks have a marked negative impact on cardiopulmonary capacity that significantly impairs strenuous physical and occupational activities. In addition, medical masks significantly impair the quality of life of their wearer. These effects have to be considered versus the potential protective effects of face masks on viral transmissions."


https://www.ksnt.com/health/coronavirus/maskne-mask-breath-becoming-concern-while-wearing-masks/

"This now has a name, maskne. It’s a combination of masks and acne. You may notice it as the increase in mask wearing could lead to pimples, blemishes and even dry skin."

"It’s not just maskne that has become a concern for some. Mask breath is now a thing too."


https://www.o-wm.com/article/skin-tears-medical-face-masks-and-coronavirus

"The clinical teams engaged in all types of the coronavirus care settings are consistently reporting facial skin tears and lesions caused by prolonged use of their protective face masks.2 Loss of facial skin integrity creates a portal for penetration of pathogens, including the coronavirus itself, as well as other hospital-acquired bacterial, viral, or fungal infections. Thus, skin damage can facilitate penetration of coronavirus and other pathogens into the blood circulation directly"


https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/news/mask-mouth-dentists-warn-prolonged-use-of-masks-leading-to-poor-oral-hygiene

"Dentists are warning about the health issues tied to prolonged use of a mask to stop the spread of the coronavirus.


They said dental problems associated with "mask mouth," including gum disease, could lead to serious complications.


“Gum disease — or periodontal disease — will eventually lead to strokes and an increased risk of heart attacks,” Marc Sclafani, a dentist and co-founder of One Manhattan Dental, told the New York Post about “mask mouth,” which is increasingly causing inflammation and gum disease among patients.


Another dentist and co-founder at One Manhattan Dental, Rob Ramondi, said 50% of his patients are suffering from negative health issues due to mask-wearing.


“We’re seeing inflammation in people’s gums that have been healthy forever, and cavities in people who have never had them before,” Ramondi said. “About 50% of our patients are being impacted by this, [so] we decided to name it ‘mask mouth’ — after ‘meth mouth.’”


https://dfw.cbslocal.com/2020/07/29/mask-fatigue-texas-workers-headaches-shortness-breath-anxiety/ 

"Some people who are forced to wear face masks all day in the workplace complain of headaches, shortness of breath and anxiety."


https://www.independent.co.uk/news/health/coronavirus-news-face-masks-increase-risk-infection-doctor-jenny-harries-a9396811.html

"Members of the public could be putting themselves more at risk from contracting coronavirus by wearing face masks, one of England’s most senior doctors has warned.


Jenny Harries, deputy chief medical officer, said the masks could “actually trap the virus” and cause the person wearing it to breathe it in.


“For the average member of the public walking down a street, it is not a good idea” to wear a face mask in the hope of preventing infection, she added.


Asked about their effectiveness, Dr Harries told BBC News: “What tends to happen is people will have one mask. They won’t wear it all the time, they will take it off when they get home, they will put it down on a surface they haven’t cleaned.


“Or they will be out and they haven’t washed their hands, they will have a cup of coffee somewhere, they half hook it off, they wipe something over it.


“In fact, you can actually trap the virus in the mask and start breathing it in.”


Asked if people are putting themselves more at risk by wearing masks, Dr Harries added: “Because of these behavioural issues, people can adversely put themselves at more risk than less.”


https://www.primarydoctor.org/masks-not-effect

https://www.technocracy.news/masks-are-neither-effective-nor-safe-a-summary-of-the-science/

"The foregoing data show that masks serve more as instruments of obstruction of normal breathing, rather than as effective barriers to pathogens. Therefore, masks should not be used by the general public, either by adults or children, and their limitations as prophylaxis against pathogens should also be considered in medical settings."


https://institutoscheller.com/efectos-nocivos-del-uso-excesivo-de-las-mascarillas

Translated from Spanish to English

"In a doctoral thesis carried out at the Technical University of Munich (Germany) in 2005, the harmful effects of wearing protective masks, such as those now worn against the coronavirus, were examined. The conclusions are revealing.


Immediately after putting on a mask, more exhaled CO2 is inhaled than normal.


Harmful effects were so significant that the Ph.D. was only allowed to test subjects for a maximum period of 30 minutes to ensure that they were not harmed.


The effects were among others an increase in fatigue, faster breathing, irregular heartbeats, an increase in poor concentration and a reduction in motor skills.


Through this research, it is concluded that the continuous use of the mask causes the following harmful effects:


Increased rebreathing of the expelled Co2.

Significant increase in respiration, increased respiratory rate, and hyperventilation.

A higher heart rate.

A significant increase in Co2 in the blood.

Hypoxemia: which is an abnormal decrease in the partial pressure of oxygen in the arterial blood.

A hypercapnia, which is an increase in the pressure of Co2 in the blood.

A general cognitive impairment and ..

Greater difficulty in psychomotor tasks.

Other psychological effects of wearing the mask a lot and seeing other people with a mask, is that interpersonal relationships are deeply altered, since, when another person is seen with a mask, they can be consciously or unconsciously perceived as a threat to health own.


Psychologically, a person with a mask is as if they were continually silenced and more isolated from the rest of the world and from others.


Scheller Institute


Source of information and study:


Institut für Anaesthesiologie der Technischen Universität München Klinikum rechts der Isar

(Direktor: Univ.-Prof. Dr. E. Kochs)

Rückatmung von Kohlendioxid

bei Verwendung von Operationsmasken als hygienischer Mundschutz an medizinischem Fachumpersonal

https://ub.mediatmedia.de doc / 602557 / 602557.pdf "


https://alachuachronicle.com/human-factors-expert-masks-may-increase-business-liability/

"Fariello is concerned that employees who have been wearing masks for hours or older people who wear them for short periods to shop could suffer lapses in judgment or impairment of motor skills that could lead to falls or to car accidents. He concludes, “If businesses require masks, they should be aware of their potential liability if accidents occur on their premises or shortly after leaving their premises.”"


https://alachuachronicle.com/research-does-not-support-face-mask-orders/

"In early March, the UK Telegraph wrote, “There is no reliable scientific evidence to suggest [face masks] work at scale and experts, always alert to the law of unintended consequences, worry they may cause significant unforeseen harm.” Mask proponents do not seem concerned about those consequences, which include impaired thinking or coordination, weakened immune systems, increased spread of viruses, and increased liability for businesses."


https://nypost.com/2020/05/06/two-boys-drop-dead-in-china-while-wearing-masks-during-gym-class/

China


"Two Chinese boys dropped dead within a week of one another while wearing face masks during gym class, according to a report."


https://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-8943065/Face-masks-trigger-ECZEMA-people-allergies-study-warns.html


"It follows recent UK research that has identified unprecedented rates of occupational dermatitis among healthcare workers.

Most coverings, including the 3-ply and KN95 masks, are made from non-woven materials which are felt-like in composition.

Experts say these materials tend to cause micro friction damage, causing some mild to moderate discomfort, particularly in those with sensitive skin."


https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S105381192100029X?dgcid=rss_sd_all#tbl0001

"In summary, wearing a mask increases ETCO2 by 7.4% measured by gas capnography. Increased [CO2] causes increased CBF and reduced R2*, and induces global gray matter activation changes as in a CO2 gas challenge (Wise et al., 2007) or breath holding (Kastrup et al., 1999)."


https://boriquagato.substack.com/p/perpetuating-the-masquarade


“at the end of the day, any medical or epidemiological mediation or intervention comes down to a cost benefit analysis. what is the benefit of adoption and what is the price paid to do so? so much time has been spent fighting about efficacy of masks that the cost side of this equation has received somewhat short shrift.“


“This is the nature of talismans. the whole process is non-rational and the attachment to them becomes increasingly severe the longer one uses one. this is simple human behaviorism. if you persist in doing something unpleasant, your mind generates cognitive dissonance if you cannot tell yourself a story about why you are doing it that satisfies you. your brain is incredibly inventive and potent in this regard. being paid to perform an unpleasant task makes you like the task less than if you do it for free because you can tell the “well, i got paid” story. if you cannot, your brain literally tells itself “this was not so bad” so that you don’t feel stupid for having done it.  this process of cognitive dissonance and resolution means that the actual act of wearing a mask makes you all the more determined that masks work and that masks are a social responsibility because those are the internal narratives that support your choice."


https://www.ecotextile.com/2021040127603/dyes-chemicals-news/exclusive-chemical-cocktail-found-in-face-masks.html


“ Top German scientists have found that wearing certain types of face masks for long periods of time could result in potentially hazardous chemicals and harmful microplastics being inhaled deep into human lungs.

Professor Michael Braungart, director at the Hamburg Environmental Institute and co-founder of the world-renowned Cradle to Cradle environmental standard has told Ecotextile News that mask wearers unwittingly run the risk of breathing in carcinogens, allergens and tiny synthetic microfibres by wearing both textile and nonwoven surgical masks for long periods of time.

His recent findings have been backed up by another leading industry textile chemist Dr. Dieter Sedlak, managing director and co-founder of Modern Testing Services Augsburg, Germany in partnership with Modern Testing Services Global, Hong Kong who found elevated concentrations of hazardous fluorocarbons, formaldehyde and other potentially carcinogenic substances on surgical face masks: “I can only say 100 per cent that I have similar concerns to Prof. Braungart.”


https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/18/8/4344/htm

"Extended mask-wearing would have the potential, according to the facts and correlations we have found, to cause a chronic sympathetic stress response induced by blood gas modifications and controlled by brain centers. This in turn induces and triggers immune suppression and metabolic syndrome with cardiovascular and neurological diseases."


https://joshuadstevenson.medium.com/masking-the-imago-dei-27e31f1134b2

"One of the major justifications underlying the usage of masks is the complete absence of downside. Why not? Cloth is cheap, readily available, and hey- they save lives! Who could ever argue with that? At first, I didn’t. Masks were the obvious choice if in fact they were that powerful, and they were a minor inconvenience at best. Well perhaps that’s true, except for people with breathing difficulty, trauma, special needs, or medical disabilities, who have been completely ignored. Sure the rest of us can “suck it up”. At the same time, study after study confirmed that children rarely spread to adults, and they are at incredibly low risk from the virus itself. Should not we have considered that when we decided the children had to “suck it up” too?"


https://rationalground.com/dangerous-pathogens-found-on-childrens-face-masks/

"A group of parents in Gainesville, FL, sent 6 face masks to a lab at the University of Florida, requesting an analysis of contaminants found on the masks after they had been worn. The resulting report found that five masks were contaminated with bacteria, parasites, and fungi, including three with dangerous pathogenic and pneumonia-causing bacteria. Although the test is capable of detecting viruses, including SARS-CoV-2, only one virus was found on one mask (alcelaphine herpesvirus 1)."


https://rationalground.com/ramifications-of-restricted-breathing/

"Medical consent and medical clearance are part of workplace usage requirements, and extended wear results in the necessity of an apparatus with an air supply line, yet children and essential workers alike have had no medical clearance for the largely unregulated apparatuses they have been required to don as a condition of access. "


https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/18/8/4344/htm

"We not only found evidence in the reviewed mask literature of potential long-term effects, but also evidence of an increase in direct short-term effects with increased mask-wearing time in terms of cumulative effects for: carbon dioxide retention, drowsiness, headache, feeling of exhaustion, skin irritation (redness, itching) and microbiological contamination (germ colonization)"


https://www.academia.edu/73947262/Effect_of_face_mask_and_noise_on_word_recognition_by_children_and_adults October 11-13, 2021

"Preliminary results indicate that word identification is significantly compromised when  produced with a surgical face mask, with more pronounced negative effects for children  listening in noise. Implications on new word recognition and learning by first graders in noisy classrooms with compulsory mask usage are considered."


https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamapediatrics/fullarticle/2781743

"A recent review6 concluded that there was ample evidence for adverse effects of wearing such masks. We suggest that decision-makers weigh the hard evidence produced by these experimental measurements accordingly, which suggest that children should not be forced to wear face masks."


Notice of Retraction. Walach H, et al. Experimental Assessment of Carbon Dioxide Content in Inhaled Air With or Without Face Masks in Healthy Children: A Randomized Clinical Trial. JAMA Pediatr. Published online June 30, 2021.


https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1101/2022.05.10.22274813v1.full.pdf May 11, 2022

"Shortly after wearing surgical masks, the inhaled air CO2 approached the highest acceptable exposure threshold recommended for workers, while concerningly high concentrations were recorded in virtually all individuals when wearing FFP2 masks. The CO2 concentration was significantly higher among minors and the subjects with high respiratory rate.


https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0048969722020009

"In summary, this study is the first to report MPs within human lung tissue samples, using μFTIR spectroscopy. The abundance of MPs within samples, significantly above that of blanks, supports human inhalation as a route of environmental exposure. MPs with dimensions as small as 4 μm but also, surprisingly, >2 mm were identified within all lung region samples, with the majority being fibrous and fragmented. The knowledge that MPs are present in human lung tissues can now direct future cytotoxicity research to investigate any health implications associated with MP inhalation."


https://journals.lww.com/md-journal/fulltext/2022/02180/the_foegen_effect__a_mechanism_by_which_facemasks.60.aspx

February 18, 2022

"This study revealed that wearing facemasks might impose a great risk on individuals, which would not be mitigated by a reduction in the infection rate. The use of facemasks, therefore, might be unfit, if not contraindicated, as an epidemiologic intervention against COVID-19. Proving or disproving the “Foegen effect” using experimental studies as described above should be a priority to public health scientists."


https://brownstone.org/articles/the-foegen-effect-how-mask-wearing-can-make-you-sick/ June 7, 2022

"My study, based on the U.S. state of Kansas, provides the answer: case mortality was significantly lower in counties without mandatory masks. Mandatory masking increased case mortality there by 85%. Even after factoring in the reduced number of cases due to masks, the numbers still remain 52% higher. Over 95% of this effect can only be attributed to COVID-19, so it is not CO2, bacteria or fungi under the mask.

The reason for this is what I call the Foegen effect: deep re-inhalation of condensed droplets or pure virions which were trapped in the mask as droplets can worsen the prognosis. Each of these steps has been documented in the literature."


https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-022-06605-w

"Even so, these results urge for in depth research of (nano)technology applications in textiles to avoid possible future consequences caused by a poorly regulated use and to implement regulatory standards phasing out or limiting the amount of TiO2 particles, following the safe-by-design principle."


https://www.cureus.com/articles/93826-correlation-between-mask-compliance-and-covid-19-outcomes-in-europe

"Moreover, the moderate positive correlation between mask usage and deaths in Western Europe also suggests that the universal use of masks may have had harmful unintended consequences."


https://gerodoc.substack.com/p/masking-is-viciously-abelist-along?utm_medium=ios July 7, 2022

"Given that the data on masking, particularly procedure masks is piss-poor (particularly in an environment where COVID is widespread and endemic), and given that those with dementia, hearing problems, and communication problems suffer the most from masking, particularly of a protracted nature - the fact is the forever-masking crowd, the pro-maskers, are the most viciously ableist of them all."


https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-022-15409-x Bacterial and fungal isolation from face masks under the COVID-19 pandemic July 18, 2022

"We surveyed 109 volunteers on their mask usage and lifestyles, and cultured bacteria and fungi from either the face-side or outer-side of their masks. The bacterial colony numbers were greater on the face-side than the outer-side; the fungal colony numbers were fewer on the face-side than the outer-side. A longer mask usage significantly increased the fungal colony numbers but not the bacterial colony numbers. Although most identified microbes were non-pathogenic in humans; Staphylococcus epidermidis, Staphylococcus aureus, and Cladosporium, we found several pathogenic microbes; Bacillus cereus, Staphylococcus saprophyticus, Aspergillus, and Microsporum. We also found no associations of mask-attached microbes with the transportation methods or gargling. We propose that immunocompromised people should avoid repeated use of masks to prevent microbial infection."


https://www.theepochtimes.com/pathogenic-bacteria-and-fungi-found-on-masks-study_4632947.html July 31, 2022

"From their findings, the authors of the study suggest that people with a weakened immune system should “avoid repeated use of masks to prevent microbial infection.”

The CDC says that immunocompromised people or those at high risk for severe disease should wear a mask or respirator when there is a high community level of COVID-19."


https://www.kron4.com/news/eye-contact-speech-expression-speech-pathologist-treating-issues-stemming-from-covids-social-distancing/ August 4, 2022

"Speech and language therapists say they’re now treating children with developmental deficits born from Covid mitigations. From understanding facial cues to reading comprehension, experts say addressing the problems early is critical."



https://www.msn.com/en-gb/travel/news/covid-face-masks-devastating-bird-populations-all-over-the-world/ar-AA10lCX4 August 5, 2022

"Face masks are entangling birds across the world, with plastic pollution is now affecting avian populations across every continent, new research shows."


https://www.eugyppius.com/p/masks-are-not-a-small-thing-theyre September 13, 2022

"This Science Following upon which we’ve embarked, has been a curious experiment indeed. It amounts to an abdication of our own sense and reason, in favour of some nebulous superordinate authority that is the only true source of knowledge about the world. For millions and millions of people, masks simply work even when they don’t, because The Science says so, and the mandates are necessary to prevent infections, even when they cannot, because The Science says so. Following The Science has turned us into a society of dead-eyed zombie lunatics, robbed of every last intellectual immune defence against absurdity. That might be the main reason that all of the policies ushered in under the banner of The Science are so blatantly ineffective, irrational and contrary to all evidence. Anything that makes sense doesn’t need The Science. People can be convinced of its importance in their own minds. 

More and more, I cannot bear the masks. Their use is contrary to a healthy and normal social life. I will probably finally leave mask-fetishising academia over this, that’s how much I can’t stand it. Wearing a mask is participating in an antisocial hygiene virus cult. It’s been devastating for me to watch older colleagues, whose opinion and expertise I respect, succumb to this irrational superstition. The mask is always donned with a slight embarrassed aversion of the eyes; if not enough people are wearing them, a few of the less mesmerised might opt out."


https://sensiblemed.substack.com/p/its-past-time-to-throw-away-routine September 13, 2022

"I usually start with efficacy, but this time let’s begin with harms and downsides. Masking is a burden. If it were not obligatory, few would do it. Want evidence? Exhibit A: everywhere in America. Masking use on airplanes is almost gone. Masking in grocery stories is just a dream. Masking in restaurants and bars— non-existent. Well, except for servers and kids in headstart, who are powerless.

Masking has real downsides, particularly in hospital and clinic settings. Masking muffles speech, and irritates skin, noses, cheeks, etc. Masking makes it harder to read emotions and gauge reactions— both for your colleagues, your staff and your patients.

Masking harms patient care for older people who are hard of hearing. It harms people who are acutely short of breath. It harms older people seeking care for suspected stroke (did they suddenly develop facial droop?). It harms women giving birth (forced to mask during contractions— why? they just tested negative anyway). It prevents people from seeing your facial expression. In many cases, harm may be limited to subjective discomfort— but guess what: that is still a harm. Unless masking in hospitals has a clear upside, it has to go."


https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/35151628/ May 27, 2022

"The existing epidemiological evidence does not enable definitive assessment of the effectiveness of respirators compared to surgical masks in preventing infection. Healthcare workers wearing respirators may be more likely to experience AEs." (adverse events=AE's)


https://dailysceptic.org/2022/11/02/scottish-government-finally-admits-that-mask-wearing-is-harmful/ November 2, 2022

"It is of course important to recognise that the Scottish Government has taken a very positive step in acknowledging that mask-wearing polices are detrimental to the health and wellbeing of those both giving and receiving care and support. Unfortunately, the refusal to acknowledge the absence of a robust evidence base has allowed the Scottish Government to promote masks as an effective infection control measure. Consequently, the guidance enables public health officials to demand their reintroduction at any point with infection control measures being assumed as priority over other clearly identified risks and actual harm caused."


https://www.sfchronicle.com/opinion/article/healthcare-covid-normal-masking-testing-17771728.php SF Chronicle February 9, 2023

"Make masking optional: Routine use of masks in health care settings has numerous downsides. Elderly patients and children struggle to express themselves and to understand masked providers. The accuracy of rapid stroke assessments fails when subtle facial droops are missed. Patients who are delirious, at heightened risk of aspiration, women giving birth and those in mild to moderate respiratory distress are often still required to mask, prioritizing infection control measures that, according to a study published in Cochrane Reviews, do not even significantly reduce transmission rates, over patient well-being.

Connection, trust and subtle facial expressions are particularly important during certain visits, such as in primary care, oncology and psychotherapy. But masks have been shown to hamper the assessment of subtle facial expressions that provide cues as to patients’ states of mind. In some states, speech therapists are still required to mask, a practice that both therapists and parents have reported poses serious hurdles to effective therapy."


https://kelleyk.substack.com/p/where-us-mask-rhetoric-went-wrong March 15, 2023

"One of the biggest problems with mask advocacy in this country, from Zeynep and others, was the complete refusal to discuss harms. The World Health Organization (WHO) seemed much more willing to accept that any masking advice needed to be balanced with potential harms of masking. But the mask advocates insist that there are no harms of masking — still to this day. Zeynep, in particular, has written extensively on this, and uses her expertise as sociologist to shut down any debate."


https://restorechildhood.substack.com/p/we-need-an-urgency-of-normal-for March 20, 2023

"Older adults depend far more on “face reading” (the mouth in particular) to aid in receptive speech. By mandating that healthcare professionals covering the lower halves of their faces, residents are more likely to be confused and not understand what is said.

Related to the above, older adults with dementia are often in the process of losing the ability to understand receptive speech. By covering up the facial cues that provide emotional context to speech, dementia patients become more likely to be confused as well. 

Older adults, particularly those in nursing homes, have high rates of hearing loss. Without access to lip reading and “face reading,” they are worse off than before, confused by speech and isolated, as above.

All of these above problems, as the authors note, potentially increase the risk of depression in older adult long term care residents. 

It's not hard to imagine why. 

Masks are isolating - they reduce communication and connection. For older adults in long-term care, the connection with caregivers is the last thing they have, really, since over the last few years family visits have been so few and far between. And there's a long body of literature noting that depression in older adults is strongly associated with functional decline, exactly the thing that LTC is designed to prevent. For people who work in LTC as a profession, nurses, doctors, etc., this is a potential source of moral injury."



https://jennifersey.substack.com/p/the-harms-of-masking-part-1 March 29, 2023

"And what about the hearing impaired, the deaf, children with various disabilities? Is masking actually a low-cost mitigation strategy for these folks? It certainly wasn’t for Flood but what about children and adults with hearing loss, for whom masking interferes with their ability to function in the world?

Maybe it works, maybe it doesn’t, but worth a try, if it saves one life!! is what the mask proponents might say. After insisting “the science” is clear. But I would argue that the onus is on the interventionists to prove it works (not clear) and that the benefits are greater than the harms — especially when there are obvious and significant costs for a wide range of people."


https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpubh.2023.1125150/full April 5. 2023

"Masks interfered with O2-uptake and CO2-release and compromised respiratory compensation. Though evaluated wearing durations are shorter than daily/prolonged use, outcomes independently validate mask-induced exhaustion-syndrome (MIES) and down-stream physio-metabolic disfunctions. MIES can have long-term clinical consequences, especially for vulnerable groups. So far, several mask related symptoms may have been misinterpreted as long COVID-19 symptoms. In any case, the possible MIES contrasts with the WHO definition of health.

Conclusion: Face mask side-effects must be assessed (risk-benefit) against the available evidence of their effectiveness against viral transmissions. In the absence of strong empirical evidence of effectiveness, mask wearing should not be mandated let alone enforced by law."


https://jennifersey.substack.com/p/the-harms-of-masking-part-2 April 12, 2023

"It is often crowed that mask wearing is a small sacrifice. But it wasn’t small for Lizzie. She was unable to communicate or connect with her peers and teachers. Which led to frustration and behavioral problems. The Dales were made to set up a behavioral assessment to “figure out what was wrong with Lizzie,” according to her mother. 

Besides her disability, there was nothing wrong with Lizzie other than the fact that she was forced to cover her face in an entirely ineffective manner, making communication close to impossible."


https://restorechildhood.substack.com/p/failure-to-communicate-while-masking April 12, 2023

"Masking is not a benign intervention; it significantly impacts the patient-provider relationship because it impairs communication. In addition to losing facial cues, masking has been found to cause ‘increased cognitive load and listening effort for both patients and providers, as well as changes in clinical efficiency for providers when utilizing masks.’ Another study showed that face mask use by nurses decreased patient satisfaction with the nurses' interpersonal skills and communication. An older study found that face mask use by doctors made them seem less empathetic towards their patients. 

The communication problems are amplified when the patients or families are hearing impaired. There are multiple studies, like this one, documenting the negative impact of masked communication on people with hearing issues. Two weeks ago, I cared for a developmentally delayed child who was being raised by his grandparents. His grandfather had cochlear implants so I asked if I could remove my mask for better communication. The grandparents enthusiastically said, "Yes!" 

The grandmother then explained that her husband had an especially hard time hearing women speaking through masks. As the majority of the pediatric hospitalists and nurses were women, the grandfather was missing most, if not all, of the information we were giving him about his grandson. ....


I encourage ALL healthcare workers to email administrators with stories of how masking is impeding therapeutic relationships. 

If you are a patient or family member, contact the CEO with your stories. You may actually have more influence because hospitals are heavily vested in patient satisfaction. 

It is time for our unmasked voices to be heard so that we can bring empathy, compassion, and joy back to patient care."



https://covidreason.substack.com/p/long-covid-could-be-mask-induced April 15, 2023

"Can masks be responsible for a misinterpreted long-COVID-19-syndrome after an effectively treated COVID-19 infection? Nearly 40% of main long-COVID-19 symptoms overlap with mask related complaints and symptoms described by Kisielinski et al. as MIES like fatigue, dyspnea, confusion, anxiety, depression, tachycardia, dizziness, and headache, which we also detected in the qualitative and quantitative analysis of face mask effects in our systematic review. It is possible that some symptoms attributed to long-COVID-19 are predominantly mask-related.

The masters of the universe have now groomed people into thinking that perpetual fatigue, headaches, and shortness of breath are the “new normal” or are from COVID. But how much of these symptoms are from masking, especially those who did it every day?

The study further found that N-95s are even worse. Remember, studies have already shown they do not offer better protection against respiratory viruses than surgical masks; however, they definitely cause more side effects. "



https://www.acpjournals.org/doi/full/10.7326/M23-0793 April 18, 2023

"Maintaining masking requirements for HCP during all direct clinical encounters may marginally reduce the risk for transmission from HCP to patient or from patient to HCP. Those potential incremental benefits, however, need to be weighed against increasingly recognized costs. Masking impedes communication, a barrier that is distributed unequally across patient populations, such as those for whom English is not their preferred language and those who are hard-of-hearing and rely on lip reading and other nonverbal cues. The increase in listening effort required when masks are used in clinical encounters is associated with increased cognitive load for patients and clinicians (5). Masks obscure facial expression; contribute to feelings of isolation; and negatively impact human connection, trust, and perception of empathy (6, 7)."


https://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-11982039/Face-masks-raise-risk-stillbirths-testicular-issues-cognitive-decline-study-says.html April 22, 2023

"Face masks may raise the risk of stillbirths, testicular dysfunction and cognitive decline in children, 'explosive' new research suggests.

A review of dozens of studies on face coverings suggested they can cause mild carbon dioxide poisoning when worn over long periods.

The German academics who carried out the research believe masks create a pocket of dead space between the mouth and mask, which traps the toxic gas."


https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S1526054223000192 April 25, 2023

"Multiple international pediatric experts have expressed strong concerns about masking of children[4], [5] and, as we show in Figure 1, weighing the highest quality evidence we have on masking effectiveness with the potential harms, masking children looks increasingly unfavorable. The CDC’s unchanging policy in spite of this calls into question the agency’s ability to make appropriate, evidence-based guidance, particularly for the youngest in our society."


https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10112860/ May 2023

"This study demonstrated that disposable masks (KF94) released higher concentrations of TVOCs in comparison to cotton masks, with values of 3730 ± 1331 µg m–3 for KF94 and 268 ± 51.6 µg m–3 for cotton masks. The concentrations of TVOCs in KF94 masks are high enough to pose a concern based on indoor air quality guidelines established by the German Federal Environment Agency. "


https://www.city-journal.org/article/the-harm-caused-by-masks May 9, 2023

"Nor is increased CO2 intake the only health danger that results from wearing masks. The study focused only on CO2, but the authors note that “other noxious agents in the masks contribute to toxicological long-term effects like the inhalation of synthetic microfibers, carcinogenic compounds and volatile organic compounds.” They add that “the increased carbon dioxide content of the breathing air behind the mask may also lead to a displacement of oxygen.” Masks are also uncomfortable and unhygienic, and they profoundly compromise human social interaction."


https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0048969722020009 July 20, 2022

"In summary, this study is the first to report MPs within human lung tissue samples, using μFTIR spectroscopy. The abundance of MPs within samples, significantly above that of blanks, supports human inhalation as a route of environmental exposure. MPs with dimensions as small as 4 μm but also, surprisingly, >2 mm were identified within all lung region samples, with the majority being fibrous and fragmented."


https://restorechildhood.substack.com/p/communicating-freely-is-a-basic-human May 11, 2023

"Being able to communicate freely is a basic human right. As a speech-language pathologist, I feel obligated to fight for it.

Think of the lonely dementia patient in a nursing home being denied the ability to see their caregivers smile. 

Think of the elderly man that is hard of hearing, being unable to hear and process the important medical information his doctor is sharing with him. 

Think of the dyslexic first grader learning to read but unable to see the mouth of their teacher. 

Think of that adolescent with Autism Spectrum Disorder that continues to wear a mask out of irrational fear. 

Think of the quiet teenage girl that continues to use the mask as a shield from others. 

I see this happening now and can’t understand why organizations such as ASHA continue to try to minimize the harm that masks may cause rather than sound the alarm.

We are now going on year four of masking and, even with the emergency officially over, organizations such as ASHA, the CDC, and the American Academy of Pediatrics are still not willing to change their messaging.

These organizations play a large role in the narrative on masks and it’s time to bring to light the harms and negative effects that wearing masks have, especially on children."


https://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-12443319/Mask-study-published-NIH-suggests-N95-Covid-masks-expose-wearers-dangerous-level-toxic-compounds-linked-seizures-cancer.html August 27, 2023

"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."


https://avoiceforchoice.substack.com/p/covid-19-whats-in-your-mask September 12, 2023

"If you are planning to pull out your mask again as some jurisdictions consider new mandates, you might want to ask what it’s made of.

Many have been found to release toxic levels of TVOCs (toxic volatile organic compounds..."


https://covidreason.substack.com/p/the-unseen-toll-of-staying-home-untangling September 27, 2023

"Let's delve into the potential underpinnings of this association. One can posit that the human psyche is not wired for isolation. Social engagement is not just an ancillary aspect of human life but an imperative. The limitation of movement, even if for public health reasons, clashes with innate human tendencies for social interaction and freedom, thereby triggering depressive symptoms. While the study does not establish causation, the strength and persistence of the association, even after accounting for myriad variables, suggest that this is more than a mere statistical mirage.

It's worth noting that the study also explored the relationship between specific COVID-19 containment policies like mandatory mask-wearing and cancellation of public events with depressive symptoms."


https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/epidemiology-and-infection/article/association-between-face-mask-use-and-risk-of-sarscov2-infection-crosssectional-study/0525AD535D10FDCDF0C52603B50E7A1E#article November 13, 2023

"We examined the association between face mask use and the incidence of SARS-CoV-2 infection in data obtained from a randomized trial on the effectiveness of using glasses to reduce infection risk. Our findings suggest that wearing a face mask may be associated with an increased risk of infection."


To Sum Up


In conclusion, unless you are used to wearing a mask and the mask fits properly there is a tendency to constantly adjust the mask, touch your face, and scratch your nose not only making the mask irrelevant but increasing your risk. After only a few minutes of wear, moisture develops inside the mask trapping natural respiratory pathogens from your nose and mouth causing potential reinfection and making the mask more permeable to outside pathogens. Unless the mask is properly

vented, CO2 can build up which is very unhealthy causing headache, dizziness and respiratory distress. These are a very concise summary of key points

 

https://www.sott.net/article/434290-Russel-Blaylock-Face-masks-pose-serious-risks-to-the-healthy


https://www.globalresearch.ca/face-masks-pose-serious-risks-healthy/5712649


https://davidicke.com/2020/05/22/unmasking-truth-studies-show-dehumanizing-masks-weaken-dont-protect/


https://jennifermargulis.net/wearing-mask-can-harm-your-health/


Face Masks and Efficacy


"Siedentopf's proposals do not provide effective protection against coronavirus. Wearing a mask for too long could even put a wearer at further risk, as it only traps virus particles, rather than deactivating them. Masks are considered more useful to people who are already sick, as they prevent germs from spreading.

Instead, the World Health Organization recommends washing hands regularly, discarding tissues after each use and maintaining distance from other people. The WHO has published advice on basic protective measures against coronavirus on its website.

Update: Following criticism of this project Siedentopf apologised for any offence the series caused."

Filled with Face Mask Research and Studies

"Masks have not been proved efficient enough to warrant compulsory application for the checking of epidemics, according to Dr. Kellogg, who has conducted a painstaking investigation with gauzes. This investigation is scientific in character, omitting no one of the necessary factors. It ought to settle the much argued question of masks for the public."

"While a surgical mask may be effective in blocking splashes and large-particle droplets, a face mask, by design, does not filter or block very small particles in the air that may be transmitted by coughs, sneezes, or certain medical procedures. Surgical masks also do not provide complete protection from germs and other contaminants because of the loose fit between the surface of the mask and your face."

"Face mask use in health care workers has not been demonstrated to provide benefit in terms of cold symptoms or getting colds."

"Among outpatient health care personnel, N95 respirators vs medical masks as worn by participants in this trial resulted in no significant difference in the incidence of laboratory-confirmed influenza."

 "In conclusion, both surgical and cotton masks seem to be ineffective in preventing
the dissemination of SARS–CoV-2 from the coughs of patients with COVID-19 to the environment and external mask surface."

 "Following a recommendation that cloth masks be explored for use in healthcare settings during the next influenza pandemic,3 The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) conducted a study of the filter performance on clothing materials and articles, including commercial cloth masks marketed for air pollution and allergens, sweatshirts, t-shirts, and scarfs.4

Filter efficiency was measured across a wide range of small particle sizes (0.02 to 1 µm) at 33 and 99 L/min. N95 respirators had efficiencies greater than 95% (as expected). For the entire range of
particles tested, t-shirts had 10% efficiency, scarves 10% to 20%, cloth masks 10% to 30%, sweatshirts 20% to 40%, and towels 40%. All of the cloth masks and materials had near zero efficiency at 0.3 µm, a
particle size that easily penetrates into the lungs."

"In sum, cloth masks exhibit very low filter efficiency. Thus, even masks that fit well against the face will not prevent inhalation of small particles by the wearer or emission of small particles from the
wearer."

"A historical overview of cloth masks notes their use in US healthcare settings starting in the late 1800s, first as source control on patients and nurses and later as PPE by nurses.20 Kellogg, 21 seeking
a reason for the failure of cloth masks required for the public in stopping the 1918 influenza pandemic, found that the number of cloth layers needed to achieve acceptable efficiency made them difficult to
breathe through and caused leakage around the mask. We found no well-designed studies of cloth masks as source control in household or healthcare settings.

In sum, given the paucity of information about their performance as source control in real-world settings, along with the extremely low efficiency of cloth masks as filters and their poor fit, there is no
evidence to support their use by the public or healthcare workers to control the emission of particles from the wearer."

 "The evidence is not sufficiently strong to support widespread use of facemasks as a protective measure against COVID-19. "

"Presently, the masks were tested with polydisperse indoor air. Their effectiveness was examined for aerosol of aerodynamic diameters of 0.006 μm to 10 μm. Of these masks, only two were effective for the whole range of aerosol. Cloth masks were found to be ineffective for the whole spectrum of aerosol particle sizes and especially in SARS-CoV-2 virus most abundant size range."

"The recommendation to wear surgical masks to supplement other public health measures did not reduce the SARS-CoV-2 infection rate among wearers by more than 50% in a community with modest infection rates, some degree of social distancing, and uncommon general mask use. "

"“It would appear that minimum contamination can best be achieved by not wearing a mask at all” 
and that wearing a mask during surgery “is a standard procedure that could be abandoned.”

"Tom Jefferson: “Aside from people who are exposed on the frontlines, there is no evidence that masks make any difference, but what’s even more extraordinary is the uncertainty: we don’t know if these things make any difference…. We should have done randomised control trials in February, March and April but not anymore because viral circulation is low and we will need huge number of enrolees to show whether there was any difference”.
Carl Heneghan: “By all means people can wear masks but they can’t say it’s an evidence-based decision… there is a real separation between an evidence-based decision and the opaque term that ‘we are being led by the science’, which isn’t the evidence”.

"We certainly should not have let modeling be experimented with on a worldwide scale directing policy that we had no idea of the outcome; but we did. It should be readily apparent by this time that all of the lockdowns, masking, distancing, closures, etc. have had no effect on the virus. It is time to reverse course."
"The healthy people in our society should not be punished for being healthy, which is exactly what lockdowns, distancing, mask mandates, etc. do. This goes completely against the principles on which the United States of America was founded. We have lost the meaning of “Land of the Free, Home of the Brave” to “Land of the Imprisoned, Home of the Afraid.”"

"As a nation, we now produce more fear than we can consume locally, hiding in our homes as civil society evaporates. We queue up happily to hand in our freedom and to collect our muzzles and our digital IDs. And those of us who cry out, until we are hoarse, to say that this is a catastrophe, are met with shrugs from the chattering classes, and snarls of “just put on the frigging mask” from the mob. If I hadn’t despaired long ago, I would be despairing now."

"On its website, meanwhile, the WHO states that it "does not recommend [the] widespread use [of cloth face masks] among the public for control of COVID-19." Yet in the same paragraph it argues that governments should "encourage the general public to use non-medical fabric masks" in "areas of widespread transmission, with limited capacity for implementing control measures and especially in settings where physical distancing of at least 1 metre is not possible.""

see page 4 for chart

"A Centers for Disease Control report released in September shows that masks and face coverings are not effective in preventing the spread of COVID-19, even for those people who consistently wear them."

"The CDC study, which surveyed symptomatic COVID-19 patients, has found that 70.6% of respondents reported “always” wearing a mask, while an additional 14.4% say they “often” wear a mask. That means a whopping 85% of infected COVID-19 patients reported habitual mask wearing. "

Mask Charts based on geographic region and mask mandates

"Ultimately it may be that masking does not prevent the spread of COVID-19, it actually both promotes and (in some cases) quells the spread of anxiety and fear. And furthers political agendas."

Ontario Civil Liberties Association (Canada)

"We believe that the WHO recommendation is harmful to public health, and harmful to the very fabric of society. The recommendation is used by governments as a ready-made justification to impose mask use in the general population. The resulting legislative dictates and policies of coercion broadly violate civil, political and human rights. We ask that your ill-conceived recommendation be retracted immediately."


"Pürner is certain: “The mask in public and in schools is a symbol with a fear-inducing effect. It has no other effect. ”He criticized his chief employer, Söder, for the introduction of a mask requirement in the open air. He countered the SPD health politician Karl Lauterbach, who was courted in numerous TV talk shows and recently spoke about the risk of infection in secondary education: "Schools are not the problem with # COVID19!""

New Zealand

"For the general public, what I can say is we're neither recommending nor requiring masks," Dr Ashley Bloomfield, the Director-General of Health, said today in an announcement.

"However, if you do choose to use a mask, that's fine, and just make sure you know how to use it safely so you reduce the risk to yourself and others."

Dr Bloomfield added that it was "not a supply issue" but an issue of evidence."

"We will keep watching, but at the moment, we're not requiring or recommending that the general public use masks."

Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern added that people should take precautions if they choose to wear masks, noting that surgical masks should be changed up to three times an hour.

"When you're changing it, you need to be very careful that you're not making any contact with the mask and ultimately, that you're not allowing it to become damp through the entire period you're wearing it," Ms Ardern said.

"Making sure that it's worn properly, I think, is one of the reasons evidence really can often fall on either side when you're asking those outside of the health profession to wear them."

"In this review, we did not find evidence to support a protective effect of personal protective measures or environmental measures in reducing influenza transmission. Although these measures have mechanistic support based on our knowledge of how influenza is transmitted from person to person, randomized trials of hand hygiene and face masks have not demonstrated protection against laboratory-confirmed influenza..." and "We did not find evidence that surgical-type face masks are effective in reducing laboratory-confirmed influenza transmission, either when worn by infected persons (source control) or by persons in the general community to reduce their susceptibility"

"Meta-analyses suggest that regular hand hygiene provided a significant protective effect (OR = 0.62; 95% CI 0.52–0.73; I2 = 0%), and facemask use provided a non-significant protective effect (OR = 0.53; 95% CI 0.16–1.71; I2 = 48%) against 2009 pandemic influenza infection. "

"our results suggest that cloth masks are only marginally beneficial in protecting individuals from particles<2.5 μm. "

"There is no good evidence that facemasks protect the public against infection with respiratory viruses, including COVID‐19."
"Thus, a pre‐symptomatic or mildly infected person wearing a facemask for hours without changing it and without washing hands every time they touched the mask could paradoxically increase the risk of infecting others."  

"The effectiveness of face masks in healthy and asymptomatic individuals remains questionable. Experts warn that such masks may interfere with normal breathing and may become “germ carriers”. Leading doctors called them a “media hype” and “ridiculous”.

"So far, most studies found little to no evidence for the effectiveness of cloth face masks in the general population, neither as personal protective equipment nor as a source control."
"In many states, coronavirus infections strongly increased after mask mandates had been introduced."

"Health authorities have warned that surgical masks may not be an effective protection against the virus.

"Those masks are only effective so long as they are dry," said Professor Yvonne Cossart of the Department of Infectious Diseases at the University of Sydney.

"As soon as they become saturated with the moisture in your breath they stop doing their job and pass on the droplets."

Professor Cossart said that could take as little as 15 or 20 minutes, after which the mask would need to be changed."

New Zealand 
"There is no convincing evidence one way or other to require the use of non-medical face masks for healthy people in the community to protect from COVID-19. There are potential benefits and potential risks with such use."

"Surgical and procedural face masks had filtering performance that was lower relative to that of N95 respirators (98.5% overall FFE), with procedural face masks secured with elastic ear loops showing the lowest efficiency (38.1% overall FFE)."

"We know that wearing a mask outside health care facilities offers little, if any, protection from infection. Public health authorities define a significant exposure to Covid-19 as face-to-face contact within 6 feet with a patient with symptomatic Covid-19 that is sustained for at least a few minutes (and some say more than 10 minutes or even 30 minutes). The chance of catching Covid-19 from a passing interaction in a public space is therefore minimal. In many cases, the desire for widespread masking is a reflexive reaction to anxiety over the pandemic."

"Many otherwise decent Americans have been fooled into believing they can "do their part" to stop the spread, and that masks are part of that “science.” But remember, there's very little, if any evidence to support that. Nonetheless, people who aren't wearing masks are branded selfish barbarians, which is not only ridiculous and unfair, but rich coming from some of the same political leaders who ordered sick patients into nursing homes. Perhaps the worst part of mask mania is that it is tearing apart our social cohesion. Those of us who question the “science” have been branded the infidels of the cult/religion of mask wearing."

"The data demonstrates very clearly that Americans have overwhelmingly exceeded the masking compliance percentages needed to supposedly “flatten the curve” and reduce transmission of the virus. The problem, of course, is that the models have not matched reality. Americans are wearing masks, but the hypothesis behind universal masking has not worked to stop the spread of COVID-19.

Americans have adopted the recommendations of the “public health experts,” but the “public health experts” have failed to follow the science, which now shows that masks are useless when it comes to stopping the spread of COVID-19. Now we’re left with an overwhelming majority of Americans wearing masks for no science-based reason whatsoever."

"Historically, the deprivation of the face and the refusal of contact with others (frequently in the context of virulent disease) have been the very first and most effective gestures of dehumanisation. And yet, now we are asked to imagine a truly risible classroom in which the teacher, and perhaps eventually everyone, is faceless, masked, and spaced two metres apart, so that all chance of serious interaction, human interaction – between student and teacher, but, perhaps most ruinously of all, among students themselves – is ruled out in favour of the atmosphere of the operating theatre.

Masking smothers the breath, muffles speech, and hides the face. Distancing, including the refusal of contact altogether in the form of online teaching, renders the body so abstract as to be effectively, if not actually, virtual. These measures, now mandated by the university, render higher education, and indeed all education, impossible, or at least greatly inferior to what it should be. Leaving aside their undermining of the vocation of the university in developing the humanity of the human, they are pedagogically damaging as well."

"People who are apathetic toward their own liberty cannot eliminate Constitutional rights for those who are not. This is not the first (or last) time that people who believe in superstition are screaming the loudest. The Constitution exists precisely to protect all people during times of mass hysteria."

"By wearing the mask, you’re being symbolically and alchemically transformed — “reborn” — into their new global system, through occult ritual programming."

" In the 1919 influenza pandemic, masks were available and were dispensed to populations, but they had no impact on the epidemic curve. At the time, it was unknown that the influenza organism is nanoscopic and can theoretically penetrate the surgical mask barrier. As recently as 2010, the US National Academy of Sciences declared that, in the community setting, “face masks are not designed or certified to protect the wearer from exposure to respiratory hazards.”

"Duke researchers posit that the smaller droplets created from speaking (or coughing, sneezing, singing, etc.) through a neck fleece may be even more dangerous than what you'd generate without covering your face."

"In all three scenarios, wearing a mask did NOT reduce the risk of getting flu-like illness or confirmed influenza."  

Sweden

"The epidemiologist in charge of Sweden’s coronavirus response has dismissed the scientific evidence for mask-wearing as “astonishingly weak” and suggested that making face coverings mandatory could backfire."

Netherlands

"“Because from a medical perspective there is no proven effectiveness of masks, the Cabinet has decided that there will be no national obligation for wearing non-medical masks” Van Ark said."
"He argued wearing masks incorrectly, together with worse adherence to social distancing rules, could increase the risk of transmitting the disease."

Finland

"Research has shown that widespread use of face masks have little or no effect on reducing the spread of upper respiratory infections, according to a report presented a government-appointed working group led by the Ministry of Social Affairs and Health (MSAH) on Friday.

"There is no scientific evidence for its use," Emerita Professor Marjukka Mäkelä said at a press briefing to unveil the report."

Wales

""But it's not just the evidence, it also acts as a reminder that these aren't normal times and that we've all got to change our behaviour."

He added that although face coverings may not make a big difference alone, when combined with social distancing, better ventilation and recognition of symptoms, "it all adds up to trying to keep us safe"."

"Yes, indeed, we have had a pandemic—a pandemic of fear, of distrust. People are compliantly choosing to obey mandates rather than exercise their ability to reason independently and to exercise their basic freedoms—including the decision to wear or not wear a mask, the right to provide our children with a decent education, and the right to give each and every child, teacher, or parent a much-needed hug. And, please, get rid of the silly shower curtain dividers in the classroom!"

"Rather, the highest-quality evidence so far is studies like the one published in June in Health Affairs, which found that U.S. states instituting mask mandates had a 2% reduction in growth rates of Covid-19 compared with states without these mandates. "

Calgary, Canada

"She maintained the updated health order clarifies that masks don’t need to be worn while someone is sitting, even when two metres of distancing can’t be achieved. 

Hinshaw says wearing masks could hinder the learning experience for some students while sitting at a desk. "

"“There is no scientific basis for wearing a mask in open space. […] Wearing a mask can even ultimately have more negative consequences than positive, so in open space it seems completely mind-boggling to me, in the same way that the general confinement of a population seems completely delusional to me. ""

England Department of Education

"All schools and other education settings will open fully this September. Returning to school is vital for children’s education and for their wellbeing. Time out of school is detrimental for children’s cognitive and academic development, particularly for disadvantaged children. This impact can affect both current levels of learning and children’s future ability to learn, and therefore we need to ensure all pupils can return to school sooner rather than later."

"Nationwide, the government is not recommending face coverings are necessary in education settings generally because a system of controls, applicable to all education environments, provides additional mitigating measures. "

"Some individuals are exempt from wearing face coverings. For example people who cannot put on, wear or remove a face covering because of a physical or mental illness or impairment, or disability, or if you are speaking to or providing assistance to someone who relies on lip reading, clear sound or facial expression to communicate. The same exemptions will apply in education settings, and we would expect teachers and other staff to be sensitive to those needs."

"By making mask-wearing recommendations and policies for the general public, or by expressly condoning the practice, governments have both ignored the scientific evidence and done the opposite of following the precautionary principle.

In an absence of knowledge, governments should not make policies that have a hypothetical potential to cause harm. The government has an onus barrier before it instigates a broad social-engineering intervention, or allows corporations to exploit fear-based sentiments."

"It is thus likewise impermissible for any element of a State or Local Government to mandate the use of a device that is not FDA approved for such a purpose since it is flatly against the law to recommend or so state that an unapproved drug or device is safe or effective to cure, treat or prevent any disease.

Such a government entity is in fact mandating a direct violation of United States Federal Law and committing said violation itself through promotion of said use."

"The paper’s conclusion is that the data trends observed above likely indicate that nonpharmaceutical interventions (NPIs) – such as lockdowns, closures, travel restrictions, stay-home orders, event bans, quarantines, curfews, and mask mandates – do not seem to affect virus transmission rates overall. "

"Yet the evidence is hardly strong enough to elevate mask-wearing into the epitome of moral behavior. Doing so reflects a greater preoccupation with the psychological effect of masks—perhaps as a restoration of control in the face of an unseen and often perplexing enemy with no cure and no prophylaxis—than with their scientific reality. Americans should demand evidence-based decision-making and policies driven by soundly attested facts, not assumptions or psychological palliatives."

"The science, contrary to the ignorant platitudes we are bombarded with, has not proven that universal masking is effective in viral containment, and has instead provided substantial grounds for skepticism of such a policy."

"One will not find a greater degree of compliance to a mask mandate than with one placed on military trainees by drill sergeants. That’s why, if masks are really the viral placebo their devoted cult worshipers make them out to be, one would expect mask mandates to work wonders in these environments. Except, they didn’t work – just like they didn’t work in Japan, Hawaii, Israel, California, Miami, or any other place where they’ve shown near universal compliance for months, yet the virus spread rapidly."

"The question we must ask ourselves is this: if our government can now mandate such a personal and disruptive lifestyle change to our bodies with assertions that contradict their own long-standing evidence from just weeks ago and with so many unanswered questions, what else can they do to us without presenting evidence or a transparent and democratic debate?"

"So, wearing a face mask cannot protect you from getting COVID, but it is supposedly able to keep someone else from getting it from you? OSHA is speaking out of both sides of its mouth. What it calls “source control” likely puts the real motive out in the open: since you are the source, it’s about controlling YOU. There is no true scientific rationale for anyone but the sick and medical workers to wear masks.

The truly healthy have no business wearing a mask, period."

"Given the lack of demonstrated evidence supporting it, mask-wearing has become a cult-like religious movement in the United States, one that relies on complete subservience to total mysticism. Members of the mask movement frequently target Americans who engage in non-compliance, likening these individuals to evil, plague-carrying menaces. Redfield’s testimony will only add fuel to the mask mania that is sowing discord in America."

"When all this began, I felt fear. But it was not fear of the disease, which was clearly overstated from the start.

It was fear of exactly what is happening to us, the final closing down of centuries of human liberty and the transformation of one of the freest countries on Earth into a regimented, conformist society, under perpetual surveillance, in which a subservient people scurries about beneath the stern gaze of authority.

It is my view that, if you don that muzzle, you are giving your assent to that change."

"What do scientists do in the face of uncertainty on the value of global interventions? Usually, they seek an answer with adequately designed and swiftly implemented clinical studies as has been partly achieved with pharmaceuticals. We consider it is unwise to infer causation based on regional geographical observations as several proponents of masks have done. "

"The problem with mask mandates is that public health officials are not merely recommending a precaution that may or may not be effective.

They are using force to make people submit to a state order that could ultimately make individuals or entire populations sicker, according to world-leading public health officials.

That is not just a violation of the Effectiveness Principle. It’s a violation of a basic personal freedom."

"Two million fewer visits were made to grocery retailers than expected in the last week of July after masks became compulsory"

"So why do the mask mandates persist? There are many theories. The ruling class is unwilling to admit error so it keeps doubling and tripling down on absurdities. Maybe they have become sadistic. Masks also work to signal political obedience and ferret out enemies of the state who do not go along. If government wants a subjugated population of undifferentiated automatons, universal mask mandates take a solid step in that direction. "
"The longer the mask mandates exist, the more money government raises and the less incentive authorities have to relax them or allow them to go unenforced. Recall how Biden’s 100 days turned into masks in perpetuity, or at least until some new president is brave enough to call out the absurdity of it all. 

Somehow this whole mess sums up everything about Covid policy. What started as a symbol that everyone knew was largely ineffective ends up as a bullying revenue racket. "

"By making mask-wearing recommendations and policies for the general public, or by expressly
condoning the practice, governments have both ignored the scientific evidence and done the
opposite of following the precautionary principle.

In an absence of knowledge, governments should not make policies that have a hypothetical
potential to cause harm. The government has an onus barrier before it instigates a broad socialengineering intervention, or allows corporations to exploit fear-based sentiments.

Furthermore, individuals should know that there is no known benefit arising from wearing a
mask in a viral respiratory illness epidemic, and that scientific studies have shown that any
benefit must be residually small, compared to other and determinative factors.

Otherwise, what is the point of publicly funded science?

The present paper about masks illustrates the degree to which governments, the mainstream
media, and institutional propagandists can decide to operate in a science vacuum, or select only
incomplete science that serves their interests. Such recklessness is also certainly the case with
the current global lockdown of over 1 billion people, an unprecedented experiment in medical
and political history. "

"Masks for the general population as they are currently used (surgical masks and the cloth masks), are ineffective (particularly when used without other mitigation) and the body of evidence (see AIER) is clear. A recent op-ed in the Washington Post spoke to mask wearing by everyone during the 1918 flu pandemic, with the conclusion that masks were useless. We embrace fully the contention by Klompas in the NEJM that “what is clear, however, is that universal masking alone is not a panacea. A mask will not protect providers caring for a patient with active Covid-19 if it’s not accompanied by meticulous hand hygiene, eye protection, gloves, and a gown. A mask alone will not prevent health care workers with early Covid-19 from contaminating their hands and spreading the virus to patients and colleagues. Focusing on universal masking alone could, paradoxically, lead to more transmission of Covid-19 if it diverts attention from implementing more fundamental infection-control measures.” We are particularly alarmed by the harms of masking and the failure by top US agencies and leadership (as well as the media and ‘media’ medical experts) to discuss or highlight harms in any discourse on masking. "

"The results show that a standard surgical and three-ply cloth masks, which see current widespread use, filter at apparent efficiencies of only 12.4% and 9.8%, respectively. Apparent efficiencies of 46.3% and 60.2% are found for KN95 and R95 masks, respectively, which are still notably lower than the verified 95% rated ideal efficiencies. Furthermore, the efficiencies of a loose-fitting KN95 and a KN95 mask equipped with a one-way valve were evaluated, showing that a one-way valve reduces the mask's apparent efficiency by more than half (down to 20.3%), while a loose-fitting KN95 provides a negligible apparent filtration efficiency (3.4%). " July 21, 2021

"The newly provided raw numbers exacerbate other weaknesses of the study, according to Recht, who was also initially skeptical of the research because of its "statistical ambiguity."
The study was not blinded, did not exclude pre-intervention infections, and was "highly complex" because of the mixed interventions, he said." 

"In the long run, however, the temporary political advantages they gained from this will be outweighed by the discrediting effect of their embrace of censorship, propaganda, and rule by decree. Making us all put masks on was the expert class’s mask-off moment — and what we can see now isn’t pretty."

"It is intuitive that a barrier ought to prevent germs from being emitted into the air. But if that’s true, why isn’t there more evidence for the benefits of masking two years into the pandemic? Experts associated with The Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy (CIDRAP) at the University of Minnesota have laid out a more complex analysis: Given the current understanding that the virus is transmitted in fine aerosol particles, it’s likely an infectious dose could easily get through and around loose-fitting cloth or surgical masks."

"While no cause-effect conclusions could be inferred from this observational analysis, the lack of negative correlations between mask usage and COVID-19 cases and deaths suggest that the widespread use of masks at a time when an effective intervention was most needed, i.e., during the strong 2020-2021 autumn-winter peak, was not able to reduce COVID-19 transmission."

"Cloth masks do little to prevent the spread of COVID-19, or other airborne diseases, a new study finds.

Researchers from the University of Bristol in the United Kingdom found that 90 percent of particles could get through cloth masks, making them effectively useless during the pandemic......

Many Americans wore cloth masks, almost exclusively, throughout the pandemic believing they were doing their part to stop the spread of the virus.

Wearing a mask also may have made people feel more comfortable about going out in public, believing the face coverings would protect everyone around them from the virus.

It could be the case that the cloth masks were providing little to no protection at all, and people believing the were taking proper virus mitigation measures were not doing so.

"While no cause-effect conclusions could be inferred from this observational analysis, the lack of negative correlations between mask usage and COVID-19 cases and deaths suggest that the widespread use of masks at a time when an effective intervention was most needed, i.e., during the strong 2020-2021 autumn-winter peak, was not able to reduce COVID-19 transmission. Moreover, the moderate positive correlation between mask usage and deaths in Western Europe also suggests that the universal use of masks may have had harmful unintended consequences."

"Judge Mizelle made that expressly clear in her ruling. Specifically, she addressed how the CDC and government officials violated the Administrative Procedures Act (APA) in issuing this mandate. 

The issue was not whether masks work to prevent the spread of Covid-19. Nor is the issue whether it is wise policy to order millions of traveling Americans to strap a piece of cloth over their breathing and talking holes (except when chomping Biscoff cookies or chugging chardonnay.) The real issue was whether the CDC had legal authority to issue such an edict in the first place – and if so, did it issue the rule as prescribed by law. The answer to both questions is: no."

"A recent review of the literature reported two randomized controlled clinical trials of the effectiveness of masking in COVID-19. One failed to demonstrate a statistically significant benefit. The second found small, marginally statistically significant reductions in viral transmission for surgical masks but not for cloth masks. Thirteen of 14 tests assessing mask-wearing in non-COVID respiratory infections failed to find a statistically significant benefit for masks."

"Significant virus counts were detected on the face while wearing either surgical or N95 masks. Only the fit-tested N95 resulted in lower virus counts compared to control (p=0.007)."

"“Mask mandates may create a false sense of reassurance to those who truly need the extra protection,” Noble said in April. “The severely immunocompromised person … should be using an N95 in crowded spaces when viral prevalence is high. They should not opt for a cloth or surgical mask because other people around them are masked and therefore assume it is 'safe enough' to avoid the tight fitting and uncomfortable N95.”" 

"Enter the re-analysis. The authors noticed that there was a difference in the number of people enrolled in the study. It looked like ~9% more people enrolled in the free mask arm. This 9% is highly significant, i.e. a real difference.

Of course, the purpose of a randomized trial is to minimize confounding and balance outcome distributions in the absence of treatment effect, but imbalance in the size of groups suggests that something might have happened that jeopardizes this fact.

What would cause more people to sign up for the treatment arm (free mask) than control arm? One possibility is that concealment was violated, and people knew that they might get something for free in 1 arm, but did not feel they would get anything in the other arm.

If participants could see a big truck or boxes in intervention villages, but not see that in control villages, they may be more likely to enroll. In fact, 9% more likely!

This has huge implications. Is the extra 11th person in the mask arm the same as the 10 people in control arm? Or is this the type of person that only enrolls on the margin? Only enrolls if they are getting something for free, but not otherwise, and thus slightly less likely to properly report COVID symptoms (perhaps they report less or differently) and less likely to follow through with testing?

The authors argue this is possible, and this threatens the entire trial. Assuming these people are just a little different, can cause the entire trial results to tip. Their paper nicely probes this statistically and is worth your time."

"The existing epidemiological evidence does not enable definitive assessment of the effectiveness of respirators compared to surgical masks in preventing infection. Healthcare workers wearing respirators may be more likely to experience AEs." (adverse events=AE's)

"Evidence on mask effectiveness for respiratory infection prevention is stronger in health care than community settings. N95 respirators might reduce SARS-CoV-1 risk versus surgical masks in health care settings, but applicability to SARS-CoV-2 is uncertain."

"“Masks also signal or symbolize one’s attitudes and social status,” Taylor said — from pro-mask, and willing to conform to any mask mandate, to people who “strongly value their personal freedom (and) are likely to reject adorning themselves with symbols of conformity.”

“Adding to this, masks aren’t a magic bullet,” Taylor said. “They’re helpful in reducing infection, but far from perfect. For some people, the hassles of wearing a mask exceed the perceived benefits.”"

"Masks are uncomfortable. They are imperfect. And they remind us of the worst grim pandemic days, which we had all hoped were behind us. And this collective reluctance is part of the reason public health authorities, in Hamilton, at Queen’s Park and even at the federal level, are only recommending we mask and take other appropriate measures. Strongly recommending, but still, only recommending. One of the big fears is that too many of us will not respect a new mask mandate, and noncompliance reduces the effectiveness and introduces new issues like enforcement."

"Masks work and, critically, they don’t need to work perfectly to have a positive impact...."
"Mask mandates not only stem the spread of diseases but also have helpful psychological benefits."

"Among health care workers who provided routine care to patients with COVID-19, the overall estimates rule out a doubling in hazard of RT-PCR–confirmed COVID-19 for medical masks when compared with HRs of RT-PCR–confirmed COVID-19 for N95 respirators. " 

"the data for inefficacy is utterly overwhelming (read HERE for summary) for masks (n95 or otherwise) and yet some subset of society appears irretrievably attached to this halloween hilarity of cosplay “caretaking.”

in 2019, everyone, every expert, every agency knew this. the WHO published a large metastudy on it. this was not even really argued anymore.

and yet in 2022, these same people have gone all in on this nonsense NPI as though it were somehow settled science and continue with the intrusive ethical inversions of “your mask protects me” to strip rights and impose duty based on a bunch of charlatanry and scheisterdom."

"Providing facemasks and messages about correct use did not substantially increase use and had limited impact on morbidity and mortality."

"Insisting upon mask effectiveness or the reliability of antigen testing may actually be emboldening vulnerable people, or those who interact closely with vulnerable people, to take risks by eliciting a false sense of security. This phenomenon, known as the Peltzman effect, where people act more carelessly when they perceive risk is lower due to the presence of a guardrail, has been shown to influence a range of behaviours including driving, drug use and sexual activity." 

"By examining the hypothetical best-case scenario, we can better predict if a given measure will have a mitigating impact on the identified hazard. For N95s versus output, particle- to- PFU ratios, and MID for SARS-CoV-2, best-case scenario of hypothetical perfect capture of matter that these apparatuses are neither designed nor approved to capture shows them to still be non-mitigating for this hazard, and recommendations for their use should be immediately reconsidered. "

"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."

"Let me be clear: The science did not change. Public health experts started lying. We never had good data that mask mandates help, or that mask advice (a softer policy) improves outcomes. Yet it was widely pushed— most likely to distract from true federal failures."

"The Cochrane Review poured over 78 mask studies and concluded there was little to no evidence that facemasks provide any efficacy against viral transmission."

"JEFFERSON: Governments had bad advisors from the very beginning... They were convinced by non-randomised studies, flawed observational studies. A lot of it had to do with appearing as if they were “doing something.”

In early 2020, when the pandemic was ramping up, we had just updated our Cochrane review ready to publish…but Cochrane held it up for 7 months before it was finally published in November 2020.

Those 7 months were crucial. During that time, it was when policy about masks was being formed. Our review was important, and it should have been out there. "

"The truth is: very few abandoned medical practices were abandoned on the basis of evidence that excludes the possibility of some useful treatment effect. Yet, for the most part, people do not claim “it would have worked, if only” or “this doesn’t prove it failed.” For the most part, we accept the failures and move on.

Many experts are actively treating masks differently than any other medical intervention and inventing new standards to reject practices (the entire CI must be unfavorable), which have not been used in any aspect of medicine. It is hard to believe this is genuine trial interpretation and not a desire to preserve something that many people have faith in, believe in, trust in.

In God we trust, all others must bring data. If after 3 years you cannot show when and how community mask rules improve outcomes, you have to go. Just like autologous breast transplant and impermeable bed covers."

"State officials will allow masking requirements in health care facilities to lapse on Feb. 12, signaling an end to one of New York’s last remaining Covid-era requirements.

The requirement had applied to staff, patients and visitors in hospitals and health care settings, regardless of vaccination status."

"The new findings seem to call into question the CDC’s enthusiastic embrace of widespread masking."

The Mask Mandates Did Nothing. Will Any Lessons Be Learned? New York Times 
February 21, 2023
"But when it comes to the population-level benefits of masking, the verdict is in: Mask mandates were a bust. Those skeptics who were furiously mocked as cranks and occasionally censored as “misinformers” for opposing mandates were right. The mainstream experts and pundits who supported mandates were wrong. In a better world, it would behoove the latter group to acknowledge their error, along with its considerable physical, psychological, pedagogical and political costs."

"There is not enough evidence to suggest medical-grade face masks protect vulnerable people from Covid, health officials have admitted."

"Masks made 'no discernible difference' to Covid transmission rates in hospitals, new research suggests.

Infection rates didn’t soar when mask mandates were removed in NHS facilities during the middle of an Omicron surge."

ANTHONY FAUCI "From a broad public-health standpoint, at the population level, masks work at the margins — maybe 10 percent."

"As on several prior occasions, liberal Bundestag Vice-President Wolfgang Kubicki has used his parliamentary prerogatives to put a question to the Health Ministry, and compel an answer. He asked what study results the Ministry could cite to demonstrate the efficacy of face masks. Lauterbach’s crack team of virus understanders responded that, uh, it is a very complicated problem, and, in truth, well, actually, nobody really knows what effect masks really have. This is because “the effectiveness of individual measures… cannot be examined in isolation, but only in conjunction with the other measures in place at any given time”.

In other words: they got nothing. After years of making kids mask for hours on end in school, and imposing arbitrary but quite obnoxious mandates on aeroplanes and public transit and clinics, they have no idea whether it did anything, and no plans even to find out whether it did anything. Suddenly all that manic masking enthusiasm has just evaporated."

"Former Director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases Anthony Fauci knew as early as October 2020 that masking was ineffective at preventing the transmission of Covid-19 after he read a Federalist article about it, emails obtained by the Functional Government Initiative (FGI) and shared with The Federalist reveal.

Despite showing awareness of a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) study — which showed a majority of Covid patients in the study became ill despite always wearing face coverings — and The Federalist’s reporting on it, Fauci published a paper weeks after the story that made no mention of masks’ shortcomings. In fact, for two more years, Fauci demanded universal masking and encouraged mandates requiring face coverings despite their uselessness."

"The Cochrane Review poured over 78 mask studies and concluded there was little to no evidence that facemasks provide any efficacy against viral transmission."

"The recent upturn in COVID-19 cases in some regions has spurred a handful of entities around the country to reinstate mask mandates, reigniting the debate over what place masking requirements have in an era of living with the coronavirus."

"The state's COVID-19 dashboard shows a positivity rate of 13.2% as of Aug. 15. That's up from 5.6% on July 12.

Dr. Erica Pan, the state epidemiologist with the California Department of Public Health, said it's not a huge concern, and it's similar to what we experienced after the omicron variant surfaced.

"In the last two weeks, we've seen some increases in test positivity and in hospitalizations, but overall hospitalizations are low and at the lowest levels we've seen over the last three years," Pan said."

"In the common parlance, masks don’t work. So, all that violence, all of the isolation, the masses of plastic waste - it was for nothing."

"Many people have been led to believe that the Cochrane study has been “debunked” or “retracted,” but neither is the case. The sole purpose of the note attached to the study is to create the impression that it has been retracted while it has not. The research stands; the political impression is the opposite, as intended.

To give you an idea how slapdash the editor’s response was, consider this: Soares-Weiser got an email from the New York Times and hastily responded, undermining the scientists–without even making an attempt to speak with them. She implied that the study was wrong without even seeking comment from the people who did the study, on a subject with which she was utterly unfamiliar.

This is science in the modern world.

Now Cochrane is spending its rather limited resources on crisis consultants whose job it is to bail the Editor out of the mess she created.

This is another example of how scientific institutions have been destroying themselves. The narrative requires that mask mandates work; the reality is that they don’t. In a rational world, scientists would simply put out the evidence and let the political actors do their thing. They shouldn’t be activists for or against masks, but rather providers of evidence."

"I’ll take my stand. Whatever happens, I won’t participate in meaningless gestures. That means no masks, under any circumstances. Never again."...
"I complied because everyone seemed to be complying and I didn’t have the guts to say no. In hindsight I can’t help but feel I sold my God-given freedom too cheaply. I won’t get fooled again."

"The most common study design was observational without comparator group 22/77 (28.6%). 0/77 were randomized. 23/77 (29.9%) assessed mask effectiveness. 11/77 (14.3%) were statistically significant, but 58/77 (75.3%) stated masks were effective. Of these, 41/58 (70.7%) used causal language. One mannequin study used causal language appropriately (1.3%). None cited randomized data. 1/77 (1.3%) cited conflicting evidence.

MMWR publications pertaining to masks drew positive conclusions about mask effectiveness >75% of the time despite only 30% testing masks and <15% having statistically significant results. No studies were randomized, yet over half drew causal conclusions. The level of evidence generated was low and the conclusions were most often unsupported by the data. Our findings raise concern about the reliability of the journal for informing health policy."

"Kaiser Permanente and Lionsgate Studios in California reversed mask mandate policies last week, just a few days after imposing them.

Kaiser Permanente, the largest healthcare provider in California, on Aug. 22 announced it had “reintroduced a mask mandate for physicians, staff, patients, members, and visitors in the hospital and medical offices in the Santa Rosa Service Area,” in a statement obtained by The Press Democrat.

Kaiser said the mandate was in response to an increase in the number of patients testing positive for COVID-19.

But just two days later, on Aug. 24, Kaiser officials told The Press Democrat the mask reinstatement applied only to physicians and staff, not to patients and visitors."

"What this means is that compelling people without Covid symptoms to wear masks in any number of environments—including, most controversially, schools—along with quarantining healthy people, closing schools, and other social distancing measures likely yielded far, far less societal benefit than we were told."

"Fauci’s answer is that masks work for individuals, but not at the population level. But this is bizarre. He advocated for mask mandates at the population level. If he knew they did not work, why did he encourage them for populations? Moreover, even this week, he continues to advocate for them— at a population level."

"Professor Tom Jefferson, who says he is committed to updating the Cochrane review as new evidence emerges, has responded to Fauci’s comments.

“So, Fauci is saying that masks work for individuals but not at a population level? That simply doesn’t make sense,” said Jefferson.

“And he says there are ‘other studies’…but what studies? He doesn’t name them so I cannot interpret his remarks without knowing what he is referring to,” he added.

Jefferson explains that the entire point of the Cochrane review was to systematically sift through all the available randomised data on physical interventions such as masks and determine what was useful and what was not.

Since 2011, the Cochrane review only included randomised trials to minimise bias from confounders.

“It might be that Fauci is relying on trash studies,” said Jefferson. “Many of them are observational, some are cross-sectional, and some actually use modelling. That is not strong evidence.”

“Once we excluded such low-quality studies from the review, we concluded there was no evidence that masks reduced transmission,” he added"....
"As it stands, the Cochrane review will continue to be the subject of attacks because it presents a major roadblock for implementing masking policies. Jefferson says he doesn’t know what motivates people to ignore the facts. 

“Could it be part of this whole agenda to control people’s behaviour? Perhaps,” he speculated.

“What I do know,” said Jefferson, “is that Fauci was in a position to run a trial, he could have randomised two regions to wear masks or not. But he didn’t and that’s unforgivable.”"

Most Recent Mask Studies




5 NIH/National Library of Medicine studies from 2004-2020 all finding verifiable health effects from wearing a face mask, including scientifically verified reduction in blood oxygen level:






Cloth Mask Study


SOME of the mask studies on efficacy:

























 


Studies have been removed by publishers and journals

https://www.researchgate.net/publication/344360577_Masks_false_safety_and_real_dangers_Part_1_Friable_mask_particulate_and_lung_vulnerability 
content moved to 
https://pdmj.org/
"We are writing to let you know that we have removed the content entitled "Masks, false safety and real dangers, Part 2: Microbial challenges from masks" from ResearchGate. 

Discussion and scrutiny ultimately advance science. Generally, we err on the side of supporting freedom of expression. However, if we have any reason to believe that content on our platform has the potential to cause harm, then we reserve the right to remove it. In this case, your report was advocating that face masks are not effective and, in effect, discouraging their use. This goes against the public health advice and/or requirements of credible agencies and governments. Therefore, we made the decision to remove the content. 
Kind regards, 
Alex
RG Community Support
ResearchGate GmbH

https://www.oralhealthgroup.com/features/face-masks-dont-work-revealing-review/
"If you are looking for “Why Face Masks Don’t Work: A Revealing Review” by John Hardie, BDS, MSc, PhD, FRCDC, it has been removed. The content was published in 2016 and is no longer relevant in our current climate.

https://www.acpjournals.org/doi/10.7326/M20-1342
https://www.acpjournals.org/doi/10.7326/L20-0745
"According to recommendations by the editors of Annals of Internal Medicine, we are retracting our article, “Effectiveness of Surgical and Cotton Masks in Blocking SARS-CoV-2. A Controlled Comparison in 4 Patients,” which was published at Annals.org on 6 April 2020 (1).

We had not fully recognized the concept of limit of detection (LOD) of the in-house reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction used in the study (2.63 log copies/mL), and we regret our failure to express the values below LOD as “<LOD (value).” The LOD is a statistical measure of the lowest quantity of the analyte that can be distinguished from the absence of that analyte. Therefore, values below the LOD are unreliable and our findings are uninterpretable. Reader comments raised this issue after publication. We proposed correcting the reported data with new experimental data from additional patients, but the editors requested retraction."

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7680614/

“ The existing scientific evidences challenge the safety and efficacy of wearing facemasks as a preventive intervention for COVID-19. The data suggest that both medical and non-medical facemasks are ineffective to block human-to-human transmission of viral and infectious disease such SARS-CoV-2 and COVID-19, supporting against the usage of facemasks. Wearing facemasks has been demonstrated to have substantial adverse physiological and psychological effects. These include hypoxia, hypercapnia, shortness of breath, increased acidity and toxicity, activation of fear and stress response, rise in stress hormones, immunosuppression, fatigue, headaches, decline in cognitive performance, predisposition for viral and infectious illnesses, chronic stress, anxiety and depression. Long-term consequences of wearing facemask can cause health deterioration, developing and progression of chronic diseases and premature death.”

https://lockdownsceptics.org/2021/05/01/mask-harms-study-retracted-by-journal-claiming-science-clearly-shows-masks-work-but-fails-to-cite-any-evidence/

"If there are errors in the paper, the question is why these were not picked up and addressed with the author prior to publication in the usual manner. If some were missed and subsequently came to light, the journal could have asked for revisions to the paper to address the criticisms. That it chose to retract it completely suggests the move is political (though the allegations of dishonesty in affiliations may have played a part). There is no indication in the notice of any correspondence with the author in the matter."



Websites that give letters and further information on Face Masks





Conditioning, Messaging and Persuading

Yale University 

"This study tests different messages about vaccinating against COVID-19 once the vaccine becomes available."

Further Links of Importance



November 29, 2021
By Kristen Meghan, Sr. Industrial Hygienist
Tammy Clark, OSHA Environmental Health & Safety Professional With Special Acknowledgement to Stephen Petty, P.E. C.I.H, C.S.P.


Letters

Asymptomatic and Presymptomatic 


https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-020-19802-w.pdf

"The citywide nucleic acid screening of SARS-CoV-2 infection in Wuhan recruited nearly 10 million people, and found no newly confirmed cases with COVID-19. The detection rate of asymptomatic positive cases was very low, and there was no evidence of transmission from asymptomatic positive persons to traced close contacts. There were no asymptomatic positive cases in 96.4% of the residential communities."


https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamanetworkopen/fullarticle/2774102

"Estimated mean household secondary attack rate from symptomatic index cases (18.0%; 95% CI, 14.2%-22.1%) was significantly higher than from asymptomatic or presymptomatic index cases (0.7%; 95% CI, 0%-4.9%; P < .001), although there were few studies in the latter group. These findings are consistent with other household studies28,70 reporting asymptomatic index cases as having limited role in household transmission."


https://alachuachronicle.com/university-of-florida-researchers-find-no-asymptomatic-spread/

"The secondary attack rate for symptomatic index cases was 18.0% (95% CI 14.2%-22.1%), and the rate of asymptomatic and presymptomatic index cases was 0.7% (95% CI 0%-4.9%), “although there were few studies in the latter group.” The asymptomatic/presymptomatic secondary attack rate is not statistically different from zero, and the confidence interval is technically 0.7 ± 4.2, resulting in a range of -3.5%-4.9%, but attack rates cannot be negative, so it is truncated at 0."


https://www.who.int/docs/default-source/coronaviruse/situation-reports/20200402-sitrep-73-covid-19.pdf?sfvrsn=5ae25bc7_2#:~:text=An%20asymptomatic%20laboratory%2Dconfirmed,more%20information%20becomes%20available 

"An asymptomatic laboratory-confirmed case is a person infected with COVID-19 who does not develop symptoms. Asymptomatic transmission refers to transmission of the virus from a person, who does not develop symptoms. There are few reports of laboratory-confirmed cases who are truly asymptomatic, and to date, there has been no documented asymptomatic transmission. This does not exclude the possibility that it may occur. Asymptomatic cases have been reported as part of contact tracing efforts in some countries." 


https://wwwnc.cdc.gov/eid/article/26/7/20-1595_article

"The detection of SARS-CoV-2 RNA in presymptomatic or asymptomatic persons does not prove that they can transmit the virus to others." 

"An inherent confounder to these reports from China is the inability to entirely rule out alternative SARS-CoV-2 exposure in the community early in the outbreak, when transmission in the community may have been undetected."


https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/32513410/

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7219423/

"In summary, all the 455 contacts were excluded from SARS-CoV-2 infection and we conclude that the infectivity of some asymptomatic SARS-CoV-2 carriers might be weak."


https://californiaglobe.com/section-2/the-miserable-pseudo-science-behind-face-masks-social-distancing-and-contact-tracing/

"On June 8, 2020, Maria Van Herkhove, PhD., head of the World Health Organization’s emerging diseases and zoonosis unit released a compilation of a number of contact tracing programs from various nations and plainly stated “From the data we have, it still seems to be very rare that an asymptomatic person actually transmits onward to a secondary individual.”


This writer hates to think what happened to Dr. Herkhove overnight at the hands of her WHO handlers, because the next day she also furiously backpedaled and stated “I used the phrase ‘very rare,’ and I think that that’s misunderstanding to state that asymptomatic transmission globally is very rare. I was referring to a small subset of studies.”


It is clear that Dr. Herkhove’s first statement that naively repeated the clear facts of the matter did not follow the WHO’s justification for non-infectious people to wear masks. In fact, the entire mask wearing narrative hangs on the single pseudo-scientific idea that asymptomatic people can spread the virus."


https://www.acpjournals.org/doi/10.7326/M20-2671

"We found that the secondary attack rate was less than 4% among close contacts of persons with COVID-19. Secondary infections acquired while using public transportation were rare; in contrast, 1 in 10 household contacts was found to be infected. Moreover, we found that patients with more clinically severe disease were more likely to infect their close contacts than were less severe index cases; asymptomatic cases were least likely to infect their close contacts. "


https://www.conservativereview.com/news/horowitz-new-study-finds-weak-asymptomatic-coronavirus-transmission/

"The study’s authors conclude not only that asymptomatic transmitters compose only a tiny slice of the spread, but that the rate of transmission increases with the severity of the illness, further validating the strategy of focusing on the sick, not the healthy.."

..."most of the secondary infections occurred among household members. Thus, putting together the low rate of asymptomatic transmission with the fact that most cases (of all severity levels) are spread in the home, why should we destroy our civilization over the concern of asymptomatic spread? "


https://calgary.ctvnews.ca/mobile/alberta-quietly-removes-physical-distancing-rules-for-classrooms-1.5085872

"CALGARY -- A health order signed over the weekend by Alberta's chief medical officer of health has lifted a mandate requiring physical distancing in the classroom when students return to school.


The order, endorsed by Dr. Deena Hinshaw, states that "an operator of a school does not need to ensure that students, staff members and visitors are able to maintain a minimum of two metres distance from every other person when student, staff or students are seated at a desk or table."


The decision applies to classrooms and other instructional settings where seats are arranged to prevent students from facing one another."


https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/hcp/testing-overview.html

August 24, 2020

"If you have been in close contact (within 6 feet) of a person with a COVID-19 infection for at least 15 minutes but do not have symptoms:

You do not necessarily need a test unless you are a vulnerable individual or your health care provider or State or local public health officials recommend you take one."

September 18, 2020

"If you have been in close contact, such as within 6 feet of a person with documented SARS-CoV-2 infection for at least 15 minutes and do not have symptoms. You need a test. Please consult with your healthcare provider or public health official. Testing is recommended for all close contacts of persons with SARS-CoV-2 infection. Because of the potential for asymptomatic and pre-symptomatic transmission, it is important that contacts of individuals with SARS-CoV-2 infection be quickly identified and tested. Pending test results, you should self-quarantine/isolate at home and stay separated from household members to the extent possible and use a separate bedroom and bathroom, if available.

  • A single negative test does not mean you will remain negative at any time point after that test.
  • Even if you have a negative test, you should still self-isolate for 14 days.

If you cannot self-isolate, or you are a critical infrastructure worker that must work, wear a mask, physically distance, avoid crowds and indoor crowded places, wash your hands frequently, and monitor yourself for symptoms."


Social Distancing


https://calmatters.org/health/2024/01/california-covid-rule-isolation/ CALIFORNIA January 19, 2024

"Californians infected with COVID-19 may go about their lives without isolating or testing negative as long as their symptoms are improving, according to new and significantly loosened guidelines from the California Department of Public Health. 

California’s top public health official, Dr. Tomás Aragón, last week quietly rescinded the state’s previous order, which encouraged people infected with COVID-19 to isolate for five days.

The new health order allows Californians with COVID-19 to return to work or school as long as their symptoms are improving and they are fever-free for 24 hours without medication. Asymptomatic individuals who test positive are not considered infectious and do not need to isolate, according to the order. "


https://nypost.com/2024/01/10/news/fauci-admits-to-congress-that-certain-covid-social-distancing-guidelines-lacked-scientific-basis-sort-of-just-appeared/ January 10, 2024

"Dr. Anthony Fauci confessed to lawmakers Tuesday that guidelines to keep six feet of separation — ostensibly to limit the spread of COVID-19 — “sort of just appeared” without scientific input.

Fauci, 83, revealed to the House Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Pandemic that the “six feet apart” recommendation championed by him and other US public health officials was “likely not based on scientific data,” according to Chairman Brad Wenstrup (R-Ohio), who is also a physician.

Schools nationwide remained closed well into the second year of the pandemic as a result of the social distancing guidelines, which were disputed by both research studiesand other health officials."


https://brownstone.org/articles/real-story-of-social-distancing/ September 13, 2022

"“Community-Wide Measures to Increase Social Distance” had already been promulgated by the CDC into federal policy by January 2004, having apparently been lifted directly from China’s lockdown (封锁) measures during SARS. This concept of “lockdown,” or mass closures, had many precedents in ancient and medieval times but was overwhelmingly discredited by western epidemiological research in the 20th century. Western responses to 20th century epidemics thus centered around the principle of “herd immunity” with so much success that most people hardly noticed them.

“Social distancing” is therefore simply the western term for “lockdown.” The official story of the birth of social distancing based on a 14-year-old’s 2006 science project as told by the New York Times and Michael Lewis thus falls apart entirely and appears to be an elaborate cover story for the Chinese origin of the concept."


https://brownstone.org/articles/social-distancing-was-supposed-to-be-forever/ August 29, 2022

"By April 2020, two months into the lockdowns, eminent Italian Philosopher Giorgio Agamben had put his finger on a point that was bugging many of us. He observed that the purpose of “social distancing” – really just a euphemism for confinement – was not intended merely as a temporary measure but a new structure for society itself. 

Thinking it through, and deciding to speak out, he wrote that “I do not believe that a community based on ‘social distancing’ is humanly and politically liveable.”



https://www.aier.org/article/the-2006-origins-of-the-lockdown-idea/amp/

The 2006 Origins of the Lockdown Idea

"What’s truly surprising is just how recent the theory behind lockdown and forced distancing actually is. So far as anyone can tell, the intellectual machinery that made this mess was invented 14 years ago, and not by epidemiologists but by computer-simulation modelers. It was adopted not by experienced doctors – they warned ferociously against it – but by politicians."


https://amgreatness.com/2020/05/04/the-failed-experiment-of-social-distancing/

It turns out, as I wrote last month, “social distancing” is untested

pseudoscience particularly as it relates to halting the transmission

of the SARS-CoV-2 virus. On its website, the CDC provides no links to

any peer-reviewed social distancing studies that bolster its official

guidance


https://www.americanthinker.com/articles/2020/05/social_distancing_is_snake_oil_not_science.html

 "Very likely, you already instinctively know that the guidelines

suggesting that it’s somehow helpful to keep a six-foot space between

healthy people, even outdoors, is not based on science, but just an

arbitrary suggestion we’ve been conditioned to accept without

evidence.


And your gut feeling would be right."


https://inside.upmc.com/shapiro-economy-roundtable/ (Dr Steven

Shapiro) "What we cannot do, is extended social isolation. Humans are

social beings, and we are already seeing the adverse mental health

consequences of loneliness, and that is before the much greater

effects of economic devastation take hold on the human condition."


https://www.kusi.com/usc-professor-joel-hay-says-there-is-no-scientific-proof-social-distancing-prevents-spread-of-coronavirus/

"Hay said that there is no proof that social distancing works for diseases like coronavirus."

''Hay says people with pre-existing conditions, elderly, etc. should isolate themselves. He doesn’t believe we need to isolate the young and healthy, as proven by Sweden."


https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2020/06/15/no-scientific-evidence-support-disastrous-two-metre-rule/

"There is no scientific evidence to support the disastrous two-metre rule"


https://californiaglobe.com/section-2/the-miserable-pseudo-science-behind-face-masks-social-distancing-and-contact-tracing/ 

"The influential Lancet review provided evidence from 172 studies in support of physical distancing of one metre or more. This might sound impressive, but all the studies were retrospective and suffer from biases that undermine the reliability of their findings. Recall bias arises in research when participants do not remember previous events accurately, and it is problematic when studies look back in time at how people behaved, including how closely they stood from others.


More concerning was that only five of the 172 studies reported specifically on Covid exposure and proximity with infection. These studies included a total of merely 477 patients, with just 26 actual cases of infection. In only one study was a specific distance measure reported: “came within six feet of the index patient”. The result showed no effect of distance on contracting Covid.


Heneghan and Jefferson further noted,


On further independent inspection of 15 studies included in the review, we found multiple inconsistencies in the data, numerical mistakes and unsound methods in 13 of them. When assumptions over distance were made, we could not replicate any of them.


This is the hallmark of modern pseudo-science: inconsistencies in the data, numerical mistakes, unsound methods and inability to replicate results.


What is the real purpose of social distancing? It certainly is not to curtail contagion. The only other possibility is to curtail economic activity and prevent social cohesion. Humans are social beings, after all, and lack of close proximity leads to depression, anxiety and even serious health consequences."


https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/15265160903197531?src=recsys&journalCode=uajb20&

ABSTRACT "Public engagement in ethically laden pandemic planning decisions may be important for transparency, creating public trust, improving compliance with public health orders, and ultimately, contributing to just outcomes. We conducted focus groups with members of the public to characterize public perceptions about social distancing measures likely to be implemented during a pandemic. Participants expressed concerns about job security and economic strain on families if businesses or school closures are prolonged. They shared opposition to closure of religious organizations, citing the need for shared support and worship during times of crises. Group discussions elicited evidence of community-mindedness (e.g., recognition of an extant duty not to infect others), while some also acknowledged strong self-interest. Participants conveyed desire for opportunities for public input and education, and articulated distrust of government. Social distancing measures may be challenging to implement and sustain due to strains on family resources and lack of trust in government."


https://www.pnas.org/content/pnas/118/17/e2018995118.full.pdf

"The current revival of the American economy is being predicated on social distancing, specifically the Six-Foot Rule, a guideline that offers little protection from pathogen-bearing aerosol droplets sufficiently small to be continuously mixed through an indoor space."

Annual Reports and Exercises


Catastrophic Contagion October 23, 2022


ARMY Climate Strategy Implementation Plan Fiscal Years 2023-2027


‘My Carbon’: An approach for inclusive and sustainable cities World Economic Forum September 14, 2022



Press Release: The World Bank and co. may be paving a ‘Digital Road to Hell’ with support for dangerous digital ID

June 17, 2022


Strengthening Global Systems to Prevent and Respond to High-Consequence Biological Threats (monkeypox) November 2021


Center for Health Security Technologies (2018) to Address Global Catastrophic Biological Risks


SPARS Pandemic Scenario (2017)


World Economic Forum The Great Reset


A World at Risk Annual report on global preparedness for health emergencies Global Preparedness Monitoring Board September 2019


Scenarios for the Future of Technology and International Development The Rockefeller Foundation Global Business Network May 2010


Event 201 October 2019 The Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security in partnership with the World Economic Forum and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation hosted Event 201, a high-level pandemic exercise on October 18, 2019, in New York, NY. The exercise illustrated areas where public/private partnerships will be necessary during the response to a severe pandemic in order to diminish large-scale economic and societal consequences.


Covid-19 emergency measures and the impending authoritarian pandemic


Strengthening Global Systems to Prevent and Respond to High-Consequence Biological Threats November 2021

The content of this site is not intended to be a substitute for professional medical advice, legal advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Always seek the advice of your physician or other qualified health provider with any questions you may have regarding a medical condition. Always seek the advice of an attorney for legal advice.

Share by: