Thread by @HeckofaLiberal

THREAD: I've been hesitant to touch masks because of the hot button nature of them but this is getting out of control. New models showing thousands of lives will be saved by February is we all just mask up. It's absurd on it's face. 1/ statnews.com/2020/10/23/uni…

The science is unsettled. For every study saying they help, you can find the contrary saying they don't. That's the point. The OP is absurd. There is ZERO evidence to show thousands of lives will be saved because of masks. 2/

Modeling has been wrong on virtually everything since March. Viruses will do what they do, they don't care about your masks. Decades of research show that. The science didn't change the politics did. What a shame. 3/

Mask mandates by dates shown with curves of states and countries all over the world. Masks didn't change the curves. The model in the OP is wrong. We have the data to prove it. 4/ rationalground.com/mask-charts/

Known patients infected with SARS2 wore masks and coughed into a Petrie dish. “Both surgical and cotton masks seem to be ineffective in preventing the dissemination of SARS2 from the coughs of patients with CV19 to the enviro. and external mask surface.”5/ acpjournals.org/doi/10.7326/M2…

There is limited evidence for face masks’ effectiveness in preventing laboratory-confirmed influenza virus transmission either when worn by the infected person for source control or when worn by uninfected persons to reduce exposure. 6/ wwwnc.cdc.gov/eid/article/26…

“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 CV19 as face-to-face contact within 6 feet with a patient with symptomatic CV19 that is sustained..." 7/

"...for at least a few 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.” 8/ nejm.org/doi/full/10.10…

In the meta-analysis of the clinical studies, “no significant difference between N95 respirators and surgical masks in associated risk of (a) lab-confirmed respiratory infection, (b) influenza-like illness, or (c) reported work-place absenteeism.” 9/ cmaj.ca/content/cmaj/1…

2371 participants completed the study. Among outpatient HC personnel, N95 respirators (8.2%) vs medical masks (7.2%) resulted in no significant difference in the incidence of laboratory-confirmed influenza. 90% said they wore the mask all the time. 10/ jamanetwork.com/journals/jama/…

Penetration of:
"Cloth masks by particles — 97%
Med masks — 44%,
3M Vflex N95 — 0.1%
3M 9320 N95 — <0.01%
Cloth masks resulted in significantly higher rates of infection than medical masks, and also performed worse than the control arm some of whom may have worn masks..." 11/

"The virus may survive on the surface of the face masks
Self-contamination through repeated use and improper doffing is possible. A contaminated cloth mask may transfer pathogen from the mask to the bare hands of the wearer..." 12/

"...Moisture retention, reuse of cloth masks, and poor filtration may result in increased risk of infection." 13/ bmjopen.bmj.com/content/5/4/e0…; ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/.../pdf/bmjope…

“There were 17 eligible studies. … None of the studies established a conclusive relationship between mask/respirator use and protection against influenza infection.” 14/ onlinelibrary.wiley.com/.../j.1750-265…

"37.3% reported face-mask-associated headaches, 32.9% reported headache frequency >6 times per month. 7.6% had taken sick leave from Mar 2003 to June 2004 (mean 2 days; range 1-4 days) and 59.5% required use of abortive analgesics because of headache" 15/ pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/16441251/

Stanford engineers estimated that N95 masks cause a 5% to 20% reduction in O2 intake. This can cause dizziness and lightheadedness. This can be life-threatening for someone with lung disease or with respiratory distress. 16/ engineering.stanford.edu/magazine/artic…

Before it was political the WHO had something to say: "The likely disadvantages of the use of mask by healthy people in the general public include:
potential increased risk of self-contamination due to the manipulation of a face mask and subsequently touching eyes..." 17/

"...with contaminated hands;
potential self-contamination that can occur if non- medical masks are not changed when wet or soiled. This can create favourable conditions for microorganism to amplify; potential headache and/or breathing difficulties, depending on type..." 18/

"...potential development of facial skin lesions, irritant dermatitis or worsening acne, when used frequently for long hours; difficulty with communicating clearly;
potential discomfort; a false sense of security..." 19/

"...leading to potentially lower adherence to other critical preventive measures such as physical distancing and hand hygiene; poor compliance with mask wearing, in particular by young children; waste management issues..." 20/

"...improper mask disposal leading to increased litter in public places, risk of contamination to street cleaners and environment hazard; difficulty communicating for deaf persons who rely on lip reading; disadvantages for or difficulty wearing them, esp. for children, " 21/

"...developmentally challenged persons, those with mental illness, elderly persons with cognitive impairment, those with asthma or chronic respiratory or breathing problems..." 22/

"...those who have had facial trauma or recent oral maxillofacial surgery, and those living in hot and humid environments." 23/ apps.who.int/iris/bitstream…

We have a lot of people who will say "be careful of that old science" and I will respond as I always do: The science didn't change, the politics did. And that, is a shame. 24/end

Time to continue: ecdc.europa.eu/sites/default/…

An RCT published in October 2020 in PLOS One, found that face masks “did not seem to be effective against laboratory-confirmed viral respiratory infections nor against clinical respiratory infection.” journals.plos.org/plosone/articl…

“A February 2021 review by the European CDC found no high-quality evidence supporting the effectiveness of non-medical and medical face masks in the community. Furthermore, the European CDC advised against the use of FFP2/N95 masks by the general public.” ecdc.europa.eu/sites/default/…

“A July 2020 review by the Oxford Centre for Evidence-Based Medicine found that there is no evidence for the effectiveness of face masks against virus infection or transmission.” cebm.net/covid-19/maski…

“A November 2020 Cochrane review found that face masks did not reduce influenza-like illness (ILI) cases, neither in the general population nor in health care workers.” cochrane.org/CD006207/ARI_d…

“An August 2020 review by a German professor in virology, epidemiology and hygiene found that there is no evidence for the effectiveness of face masks and that the improper daily use of masks by the public may in fact lead to an increase in infections.” thieme-connect.com/products/ejour…

“A Danish randomized controlled trial with 6000 participants, published in the Annals of Internal Medicine in November 2020, found no statistically significant effect of high-quality medical face masks against SARS-CoV-2 infection in a community setting.” acpjournals.org/doi/10.7326/M2…

“A May 2020 meta-study on pandemic influenza published by the US CDC found that face masks had no effect, neither as personal protective equipment nor as a source control.” wwwnc.cdc.gov/eid/article/26…

“Due to their large pore size and poor fit, most masks cannot filter out aerosols (see video analysis below): over 90% of aerosols penetrate or bypass the mask and fill a medium-sized room within minutes.” bmjopen.bmj.com/content/5/4/e0…

The WHO admitted 2 BBC that its June 2020 mask policy was not science - “We had been told by various sources WHO committee reviewing the evidence had not backed masks but they recommended them due to political lobbying.” (D. Cohen, BBC Medical Corresp). swprs.org/who-mask-study…

In the state of Kansas, the 90 counties without mask mandates had lower coronavirus infection rates than the 15 counties with mask mandates. To hide this fact, the Kansas health department tried to manipulate the official statistics and data presentation. sentinelksmo.org/more-deception…

Masks in 1918 didn’t do a thing. washingtonpost.com/history/2020/0…

As I find more evidence I will continue the thread. The evidence just isn’t there to show masks work. We should NEVER again try to mandate them for anyone. It wasn’t public health, it was politics and wrong…

abc7news.com/face-masks-for…

In 2009 we knew better. slate.com/news-and-polit…