Since last spring, the Trends Journal has offered dozens of reports showing that, despite constant pressure from political leaders and their health “experts” to scare citizens into prolonged mask-wearing, masks have never been proven effective with hard scientific data. Some notable examples:
- In addition to wildly differing estimates of deaths from coronavirus and inconsistent orders, bans, and restrictions from political leaders, the issue of whether or not wearing masks in public is effective for preventing the spread remains confused. (See our 7 April article, “MASKS OR NO MASKS? THAT IS THE QUESTION”)
- This past 21 May, before they became “wear your mask” advocates, the New England Journal of Medicine published this on their site: “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.’” (See our 3 November article, “FACING THE TRUTH, PART II: MORE EVIDENCE MASKS ARE INEFFECTIVE“)
- A recent careful examination of the literature, in which 17 of the best studies were analyzed, concluded that “None of the studies established a conclusive relationship between mask/respirator use and protection against influenza infection. Keep in mind, no studies have been done to demonstrate that either a cloth mask or the N95 mask has any effect on transmission of the COVID-19 virus.” (See our 23 June article, “WEAR MASKS, GET SICK“)
- On 31 August, Dr. Tegnell [Sweden’s leading epidemiologist] was quoted on the MedicalXpres website that there was a lack of scientific evidence to support mask-wearing: “There are at least three heavyweight reports – from the World Health Organization, the ECDC [EU health agency] and The Lancet report that the WHO cites – which all state the scientific evidence is weak.” (See our 29 September article, “EUROPEAN HEALTH OFFICIALS AGREE: MASKS DON’T WORK“)
Yet, despite the lack of hard data, the call for mandatory mask-wearing continues unabated with President-elect Joe Biden announcing in December, “I think it’s critically important. I think it’s a patriotic responsibility to wear a mask.” Last Thursday, America’s Commander-in-Chief declared, without a shred of scientific data to back him up, that it was important for everyone to wear masks until at least 2022.
“You know that wearing this mask through the next year here can save lives—a significant number of lives. And so I apologize if you don’t hear me as clearly as you, maybe you should,” said a masked up mumbling Biden at National Institutes of Health.
Double Up
And now, on 10 February, the CDC declared that “two masks are better than one.”
As reported by the Associated Press:
“The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on Wednesday reported the results of a lab experiment that spaced two artificial heads 6 feet apart from each other and checked to see how many coronavirus-sized particles spewed by one were inhaled by the other. The researchers found that wearing one mask—surgical or cloth—blocked around 40 percent of the particles coming toward the head that was breathing in. When a cloth mask was worn on top of a surgical mask, about 80 percent were blocked.”
About Face!
Double up on masks? Back in 2009, the CDC reported that “information on the effectiveness of facemasks and respirators for decreasing the risk of influenza infection in community settings is extremely limited. Thus, it is difficult to assess their potential effectiveness in decreasing the risk of 2009 influenza A (H1N1) virus transmission in these settings.”
They went on to state, “In community and home settings, the use of facemasks and respirators generally are not recommended.”
TRENDPOST: We’re not making this up. The facts are presented. And now the latest ‘brilliant” CDC experiment was conducted using two artificial heads. One of the two masks used was a surgical mask… the AP article pointed out that “the study had many limitations: The researchers used one brand of a surgical mask and one kind of cloth mask, and it’s not clear if results would be the same with every product.”
TRENDPOST: In addition to just a few of the dozens of articles published in the Trends Journal since last spring showing lack of hard scientific data supporting the wearing of masks, we haven’t forgotten that just short of a year ago, the U.S. surgeon general tweeted: “Seriously people – STOP BUYING MASKS… They are NOT effective in preventing general public from catching #Coronavirus.”
As we reported in the Trends Journal, last March, at the onset of the COVID War, Dr. Anthony Fauci, designated by the media and politicians as America’s top infectious disease expert, declared on the TV show 60 Minutes,
“There’s no reason to be walking around with a mask. When you’re in the middle of an outbreak, wearing a mask might make people feel a little bit better and it might even block a droplet, but it’s not providing the perfect protection that people think that it is. And, often, there are unintended consequences—people keep fiddling with the mask and they keep touching their face.”
TRENDPOST: While the CDC found time to test artificial dummies wearing masks, they left out recent research showing long-term mask-wearing is causing significant skin problems. So much so there’s now a new term: “Maskne,” referring to the acne many are suffering from the constant wearing of masks, which trap bacteria on the skin. In addition to acne, prolonged mask-wearing is causing an increase in bad breath, tooth decay, and gum inflammation.
TRENDPOST: On 12 February 2020, Dr. Nancy Messonnier, the director of the CDC’s National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases, took part in a press conference that focused on the emerging threat out of Wuhan, China. She noted that the health body noticed an increase in demand for N95 respirators and face masks but made it clear that the CDC “does not currently recommend the use of face masks for the general public.” She said,
“This virus is not spreading in the community. If you are sick or a patient under investigation and not hospitalized, CDC recommends wearing a face mask when around other people and before entering a health care provider’s office, but when you are alone, in your home, you do not need to wear a mask.”
In a 9 July report, The New England Journal of Medicine concluded:
“We know that wearing a mask outside health care facilities offers little, if any, protection from infection.… 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.”
TRENDPOST: As we have long noted, “Dumb Enough to Believe Bush’s Wars, Dumb Enough to Believe the COVID War.” On 21 May, an article published in the New England Journal of Medicine by doctors and medical experts from Harvard Medical School; the Division of Infectious Diseases at Massachusetts General Hospital; Harvard Pilgrim Health Care Institute; and Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston, MA, stated:
“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.”