Face Masks Made "Little To No Difference" In Curbing Spread Of Covid, According To New Study
The narrative about masks, social distancing, and vaccines kept changing over and over again during the coronavirus pandemic. New research suggests that the mask mandates did nothing for us, as they don't stop the spread of a virus.
There were 39 American states that instated a mask mandate at some point during the Covid pandemic. Only until recently did some of these states decide to end the mandate. Whether or not your state enacted the mask rule, you've probably been required to wear a mask at some point in the last few years, whether it's for travel or going to a doctor appointment. We were told for years that the mask mandate was our single best shot at curbing the spread of coronavirus and the people who questioned the efficacy of masks were called selfish grandma killers who didn't really care about preventing the spread of the virus. Well, it turns out those people were right to raise reasonable concern about masks. A recent study suggests they're not nearly as effective as they're made out to be.
Face Masks Made "Little to No Difference" in Curbing Spread Of Covid, According to New Study
A paper shared by independent policy institution Cochrane revealed that masks made "little to no difference" in curbing the spread of viruses such as Covid. 78 different randomized controlled trials were assessed to determine whether common "physical interventions," such as masks and washing your hands, were efficient at stopping the spread of respiratory viruses. The trials were conducted on people from various countries of different income levels.
In particular, a review of 9 studies and 276,917 people found that covering your face with a mask doesn't have much of an effect at all on preventing you from catching coronavirus. The review even compared the efficacy of medical and surgical masks to N95 respirators.
"Wearing N95/P2 respirators probably makes little to no difference in how many people have confirmed flu (five studies; 8407 people); and may make little to no difference in how many people catch a flu-like illness (five studies; 8407 people), or respiratory illness (three studies; 7799 people)," the paper read.
The researchers conducting these studies focused "primarily on randomized trials" but most studies conducted on masks in the past are "population studies." In fact, there have been few randomized trials on masks and some experts say the results could be different if the studies were performed in a "real-world" environment.
Some experts still claim that the mask mandates didn't do anything positive for society, while others still believe they helped slow down the spread of coronavirus. Regardless of what the various studies say, there are still concerned citizens who believe the government will find another reason to shut down the country again and implement arbitrary mask and lockdown laws in order to gain control over its residents.