02-15-2023, 06:54 AM
'Old' Research, i.e. pre-Covid, has shown the same thing.
MSN | February 14, 2023
Anew scientific review of 78 randomized trials studying the effectiveness of physical interventions in lessening the spread of respiratory viruses found “little to no” evidence that large-scale masking efforts were effective at preventing the wide spread of Covid-19.
The meta-analysis, published by Cochrane Library and led by 12 researchers, found that the difference between wearing a regular surgical mask or not wearing a mask at all “may make little to no difference in how many people caught a flu-like illness/COVID-like illness.” It also “probably makes little or no difference in how many people have flu/COVID confirmed by a laboratory test.”
The research, which draws upon data derived from hundreds of thousands of participants, casts fresh doubts on the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s flip-flopping recommendations about masking as an essential tactic for combatting Covid-19. In March 2020, at the outset of the global pandemic, the CDC said that masks were non-essential in slowing the spread of the coronavirus. A month later, CDC director Robert Redfield informed the Senate that masks were one of “the most important” and “powerful” health tools Americans had at their disposal.
But according to the Cochrane Library analysis, even the much-touted, top-of-the-line N95 respirator mask provided little to no extra protection for healthcare workers when compared to medical or surgical masks. “Compared with wearing medical or surgical masks, wearing N95/P2 respirators probably makes little to no difference in how many people have confirmed flu (5 studies; 8407 people); and may make little to no difference in how many people catch a flu‐like illness (5 studies; 8407 people), or respiratory illness (3 studies; 7799 people). Unwanted effects were not well‐reported; discomfort was mentioned,” the analysis found.
Some supporters of masking efforts, however, believe that critics of masking are making too much of the conclusions of the Cochrane Library review, particularly by overlooking the individual benefits of wearing masks, as opposed to the community-wide benefits.
“We have fairly decent evidence that masks can protect the wearer,” Jennifer Nuzzo, an epidemiologist at Brown University, told The Atlantic. “Where I think it sort of falls apart is relating that to the population level.”
In early February, New York state removed its masking requirements in hospitals handing the power back to individual healthcare providers.
New Research Finds ‘Little to No’ Evidence Masks Effectively Lessened Covid Spread
![[Image: AA17tPR7.img?w=768&h=448&m=6]](https://img-s-msn-com.akamaized.net/tenant/amp/entityid/AA17tPR7.img?w=768&h=448&m=6)
CDC director Rochelle Walensky testifies during a Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee hearing on the coronavirus in Washington, D.C., January 11, 2022.
CDC director Rochelle Walensky testifies during a Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee hearing on the coronavirus in Washington, D.C., January 11, 2022.
MSN | February 14, 2023
Anew scientific review of 78 randomized trials studying the effectiveness of physical interventions in lessening the spread of respiratory viruses found “little to no” evidence that large-scale masking efforts were effective at preventing the wide spread of Covid-19.
The meta-analysis, published by Cochrane Library and led by 12 researchers, found that the difference between wearing a regular surgical mask or not wearing a mask at all “may make little to no difference in how many people caught a flu-like illness/COVID-like illness.” It also “probably makes little or no difference in how many people have flu/COVID confirmed by a laboratory test.”
The research, which draws upon data derived from hundreds of thousands of participants, casts fresh doubts on the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s flip-flopping recommendations about masking as an essential tactic for combatting Covid-19. In March 2020, at the outset of the global pandemic, the CDC said that masks were non-essential in slowing the spread of the coronavirus. A month later, CDC director Robert Redfield informed the Senate that masks were one of “the most important” and “powerful” health tools Americans had at their disposal.
But according to the Cochrane Library analysis, even the much-touted, top-of-the-line N95 respirator mask provided little to no extra protection for healthcare workers when compared to medical or surgical masks. “Compared with wearing medical or surgical masks, wearing N95/P2 respirators probably makes little to no difference in how many people have confirmed flu (5 studies; 8407 people); and may make little to no difference in how many people catch a flu‐like illness (5 studies; 8407 people), or respiratory illness (3 studies; 7799 people). Unwanted effects were not well‐reported; discomfort was mentioned,” the analysis found.
Some supporters of masking efforts, however, believe that critics of masking are making too much of the conclusions of the Cochrane Library review, particularly by overlooking the individual benefits of wearing masks, as opposed to the community-wide benefits.
“We have fairly decent evidence that masks can protect the wearer,” Jennifer Nuzzo, an epidemiologist at Brown University, told The Atlantic. “Where I think it sort of falls apart is relating that to the population level.”
In early February, New York state removed its masking requirements in hospitals handing the power back to individual healthcare providers.
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