Masks Didn't Slow COVID Spread: New Study

oldburgrunner wrote:

Wearing a mask & wearing it correctly are two different things. I work with the public & a huge percentage of people wear it below their nose.

You're right, those little puffs of air from peoples' noses really made all the difference. No the air, along with the virus, from your mouth and nose seep through these stupid masks, rendering them almost useless. If it didn't, you would suffocate. All masks do is act like a sneeze guard.

Plus 1. At the end of the day the Covid 19 debacle will be found as nothing more than a new strain of flu which the MSM and political landscape fueled to fulfill their own agenda and narrative. Yes, globally as well.

xczvzxcv wrote:

This study doesn't even pass the sniff test. You can't aggregate on a binary level all state mask mandates. They were not the same and were not enforced the same and were not complied with the same. Masks work. Why didn't I get COVID when I had multiple students in class with it at various times, some even coughing? It's all about the masks.

You should write to the authors of the paper and tell them they're stupid and wrong, and that your one anecdote, which is correlational at best, proves everything they said is wrong.

This is Jim Kiler wrote:

fully vaxxed, anti-masked1 wrote:

Kids get and spread flu at high levels. 20-30% of kids get the flu in a typical year. This year, most schools were closed. Hence: no flu.

But sure, keep crediting masks.

The business I'm at, which has been open this entire time, had not a single flu case. In a typical year, we have 10-15 people out.

And? Most people probably get the flu from their kids, there could be many possible reasons why your coworkers didn't get the flu. Look up the difference between correlation and causation and you'll realize why the argument you're making is silly.

Let it Rupp wrote:

This is Jim Kiler wrote:

The business I'm at, which has been open this entire time, had not a single flu case. In a typical year, we have 10-15 people out.

And? Most people probably get the flu from their kids, there could be many possible reasons why your coworkers didn't get the flu. Look up the difference between correlation and causation and you'll realize why the argument you're making is silly.

Schools have been open in most states for a while, in some for many months, and there is no evidence of flu rebounding because of this. Happy to see evidence otherwise, but afaik it doesn't exist.

This theory discards obvious physical mitigations like distancing and masking, instead saying the school closures were enough to totally collapse flu transmission. That is a pretty bold claim that you try to make without evidence.

Social distancing and masking at the community level are the highest probability drivers of this. There are far more adults interacting everyday than children, just by numbers alone.

Maybe there is a paper showing that flu transmission dynamics are driven by school children, but I haven't seen it. But this is certainly a more complicated model than general community spread which should be our base-case.

Why the refusal to admit that distancing and masking works? You can still argue that it isn't effective enough to justify, but flu dynamics are excellent evidence.

Mask have been shown repeatedly to NOT mitigate community spread of respiratory viruses. Claiming decreased reporting og the flu during a massive pandemic of a similar respiratory virus does not prove masks are effective either. It is very likely the hyper awareness and reporting on covid has caused the system to overlook and misdiagnose a significant amount of flu cases; particularly since the level of covid infected in the population is very high compared to the flu. This is just an absurdly naive extrapolation of reality and not a scientific assessment.

[quote]Harambe wrote:

Why the refusal to admit that distancing and masking works?

This is his response to a study claiming masks don't work.

You just can't reason with these believers

If masks are completely useless, why are doctors and nurses always wearing them? Someone should teach them some science!

Let it Rupp wrote:

This is Jim Kiler wrote:

In "woke science" weak correlations are paramount evidence! Get with the new game! Real science is dead.

The business I'm at, which has been open this entire time, had not a single flu case. In a typical year, we have 10-15 people out.

And? Most people probably get the flu from their kids, there could be many possible reasons why your coworkers didn't get the flu. Look up the difference between correlation and causation and you'll realize why the argument you're making is silly.

Lead Foil Hat XX wrote:

Mask have been shown repeatedly to NOT mitigate community spread of respiratory viruses. Claiming decreased reporting og the flu during a massive pandemic of a similar respiratory virus does not prove masks are effective either. It is very likely the hyper awareness and reporting on covid has caused the system to overlook and misdiagnose a significant amount of flu cases; particularly since the level of covid infected in the population is very high compared to the flu. This is just an absurdly naive extrapolation of reality and not a scientific assessment.

No. Wrong. Flu test positivity has cratered. They are doing tests still they just aren't coming back positive. This is consistent with less flu infections.

Flu has an R_0 known to be lower than COVID. We would expect mitigation efforts against COVID to be more effective on the flu. The data supports this hypothesis.

See the data from 2019-2020 vs 2020-2021

bigmig19 wrote:

So just to be clear you think that a virus that is transmitted through respiratory droplets isnt affected by wearing a barrier over you nose and face? All surgeons should stop wearing masks? Everyone working with bone marrow patients can stop wearing masks?

Answer the question, Trumpers.

shoeless wrote:

Plus 1. At the end of the day the Covid 19 debacle will be found as nothing more than a new strain of flu which the MSM and political landscape fueled to fulfill their own agenda and narrative. Yes, globally as well.

It will be found but not told to the general public

Logik wrote:

If masks are completely useless, why are doctors and nurses always wearing them? Someone should teach them some science!

1. To keep blood and other liquids from hitting them during surgery? I have been to the doctor many times and they never have a mask on.

2. Shouldn't you be attacking the methodology of the article that conclude masks don't work?

Some experiment data in support of masking.

Let's not pretend this one study is the only data point:

https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/science/science-briefs/masking-science-sars-cov2.html#anchor_1619456988446

shoeless wrote:

Plus 1. At the end of the day the Covid 19 debacle will be found as nothing more than a new strain of flu which the MSM and political landscape fueled to fulfill their own agenda and narrative. Yes, globally as well.

You realize we have sequence of the virus' genome and it is unrelated to the flu.

Damn, you people are stupid and/or dishonest.

So, first, the article is a pre-print. No peer review yet. Should you make personal health decisions, let alone public health decisions affecting millions of people, based on a pre-print? No, you numbskulls, stop doing that.

Even if it passes peer review, it's one study out of many. You don't overturn a basic plank of public health based on a bit of statistical analysis. The way masking slows the spread of viruses is well known.

One of the two authors is associated with a university. Here's his list of publications. Does anything here suggest he has any expertise on epidemiology or public health? No, not a thing.

https://louisville.edu/biology/faculty/guerra/publications

Here's the other author's publications listed on PubMed. Does anything here change the impression of inexperience?

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/?cmd=search&term=Guerra%20DJ%5Bau%5D&dispmax=50

An unreviewed study is just one point among thousands. Stop repeating as fact something published by the incompetent, and stop taking advice from people who wish you harm.

This site is such a cesspool.

Lead Foil Hat XX wrote:

where are the mods wrote:

I know the mods let this garbage stay up because it generates clicks, but it’s really dishonest of them to allow such misinformation to be passed as fact.

Wait, so now scientific studies are misinformation if you do not like what they say? Sheesh, some new world we live in. PS, just because CNN tries to discredit some scientists does not mean they are discredited.

It’s not peer reviewed and there’s so many holes in the methods. Additionally, the OP’s conclusion contradicts what the study ultimately finds. You’re being obtuse about this.

Exactly - this is not peer reviewed research. Anyone can post their 'research' on in this database. Without some sort of review process is basically an opinion piece at this point.

The idea that "viruses" can be spread by small spit droplets when people exhale is absurd. "Diseases" are spread telepathically through the public consciousness by the liberal media, by stoking irrational anxiety and worry. Only the mentally weak get "sick", because they convince themselves that they are. Classic victim mentality. If you are healthy, lift weights, and pray every day, then you are immunized against any and all "viruses."