Thoughts on masks and mask mandate

A Scientific Review

The partisan divide over mandatory face coverings is one of the more interesting, if sad, twists of the coronavirus era. On the one hand, the mask police insist that not wearing one is equivalent to being a literal Typhoid Mary and trying to purposefully kill everyone’s grandma. On the other, many conservatives, including this one, see it as yet another unnecessary and overblown reaction to what has been a pandemic defined by unnecessary and overblown reactions.

Regardless of how you come down on the issue, nobody should condemn anyone for their choice of wearing or not wearing a mask. I, for one, do not intend to conform, or at least I intend to conform as little as possible. No, I’m not going to be the person who makes it into some viral video for making a scene if asked to mask-up in order to go into a private business. Granted, there are certain situations where it may be smart to wear a mask for a while, such as airplanes or places where you are stuck close to non-moving groups of people indoors for extended periods of time. But most of the time, in most situations, I’m convinced that mask-wearing does more harm to society than good. Here are a few reasons why:

In June 2020, Dr. Mike Ryan, executive director of the World Health Organization’s (WHO) health emergency program, advised against wearing a face mask in March, noting,

“There is no specific evidence to suggest that the wearing of masks by the mass population has any potential benefit. There’s some evidence to suggest the opposite in the misuse of wearing a mask properly or fitting it properly”.

[1] Another infectious disease epidemiologist, Dr. Maria Van Kerkhove from the WHO, recommended, “In the community, we do not recommend the use of wearing masks unless you are sick and as a measure to prevent onward spread from you if you are ill”

Experts hypothesized that people who wear masks might be more likely to follow other health guidance, such as proper handwashing, social distancing, and disinfecting surfaces [4]. Still, other experts noted that masks might give the user a false sense of security, which may cause the individual to do fewer preventative measures, like handwashing, social distancing, and disinfecting surfaces. [3]

In other words, the evidence suggests you typically won’t get coronavirus from simply passing someone in a store aisle. It takes close contact with an infected person for several minutes to get infected yourself, a take agreed-upon by none other than the New England Journal of Medicine, which covered both sides in the debate over the use of universal masking in hospitals early on in the pandemic:

“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.”

Some people shame non-mask wearers as selfish, virus-spreading individuals. There is just one issue - this “woke,” “virtue-signaling” narrative disregards two fundamental points:

1) Research does not all support that face masks provide any consistent level of protection to the wearer.

2) This movement has disregarded the research-supported, adverse effects that face masks do have on the wearer. [5]

Numerous studies have shown that N95 face masks do not offer the wearer any protection from influenza and other viruses, and research that does provides nothing more than mixed results (Remember, too, most of these studies investigate the protective effects of N95 masks, which are 95% effective at filtering out dust, mists, and fumes - a homemade mask with two layers of cotton cloth cannot be compared.) [6]

-In a 2012 study titled “The use of masks and respirators to prevent transmission of inﬂuenza: a systematic review of the scientiﬁc evidence", researchers remarked of the seventeen eligible studies,

“None of the studies establish a conclusive relationship between mask/respirator use and protection against influenza infection” [9]

-In a 2019 study, researchers conducted a randomized controlled trial to determine whether N95 masks or medical masks were more effective in preventing influenza infection among healthcare personnel [10]. The scientists noted that “among 2,862 randomized participants, 2,371 completed the study and accounted for 5,180 healthcare worker-seasons. … Among outpatient health care personnel, N95 respirators vs. medical masks, as worn by participants in this trial, resulted in no significant difference in the incidence of laboratory-confirmed influenza.”

-In a 2020 study titled “Effectiveness of N95 respirators versus surgical masks against influenza: A systematic review and meta‐analysis,” researchers noted that

“previous meta-analysis concluded that there was insufficient evidence to determine the effect of N95 respirators”[11]

On May 1, 2020, researchers from the University of London published a study entitled “Face masks to prevent community transmission of viral respiratory infections: A rapid evidence review using Bayesian analysis” [12]. They were determined to “assess the likelihood that wearing face masks in community settings [reduced] the transmission of viral respiratory infections… Conclusion: Masks and N95 respirators do not work.

We have established that no clinical trial has found any benefit, any benefit found in a massive test would be swamped by more substantial effects – most notably the tremendous impact of changing atmospheric humidity on aerosol particles [13] [14] [15].

But what about the Unknown Aspects of Mask-Wearing?

Public health officials have wholly ignored potential harms and unanswered questions in their large-scale mask mandates. Yet, There are Known Negative Consequences of Mask-Wearing (studies shown headaches [7] [8] [18] [19], Decreased Blood Oxygen [20] [21][22][23], Can Make One’s Infection Much Worse [24] [25] [26], not to mention the physiological effects of anxiety and fear.

Conclusion

It is evident from this review that there is insufficient evidence that wearing a mask of any kind, including N95 covers, has any significant impact in preventing the spread of the virus. On the contrary, there is ample evidence that continual face mask-wearing can cause headaches, hypercarbia, and hypoxia and can make one’s infection much more severe.

Rather, we should advocate for protecting the at-risk community by avoiding close contact, boosting their immunity with compounds that support cellular immunity, and promoting good hygiene practices, etc.

Public health officials claim that a mask isn’t supposed to protect you from infection – a mask is supposed to protect you from infecting those around you in case you are asymptomatically infected. The underlying reason for this hypothesis is that mask blocks viral particles that the wearer breathes out. Still, if there were any benefits to wearing a mask – because of the blocking power against aerosol particles and droplets – then there should be more benefit from wearing an N95 respirator than a surgical mask. Yet, above, we reviewed several large meta-analyses and randomized controlled trials, and they all prove that there is no such relative benefit.

Personally, I'm ok with wearing a mask in public crowded areas wherever I can’t maintain social distancing, sure - fine if that makes you feel more comfortable. But not at home, not outdoors, not when I'm maintaining distance from others, and definitely not for long periods of time.

On another note, I believe it more so about social control. I mean... Ask yourself this: do societies that accept mass-mask-wearing tend to be free and open ones?

Fear mongering: Officials told us this virus would kill, at the very least, one to two percent of those it infected. Some predictions even approached five. In reality, the rate is well under half of one percent and declining rapidly as antibody tests reveal the extent of the original infection. We were told we must shut everything down or millions would die. First, it was two weeks to “slow the spread.” Next, it was another month. Then, states that began opening things up were told blood would be literally running down the streets. The fear, and the overbearing response, to this virus has been completely irrational and unwarranted. Wearing a mask tells them they have a point when they don’t.

My last thoughts and also stated by Scott Morefield: Masks are the equivalent of a comfort blanket. You’re likely getting closer to people and taking more risks than you otherwise would because of the false sense of security that masks give you. Don’t get me wrong. Reasonable social distancing, masks indoors in certain situations, and basic sanitation can go a long way. But universal masking all the time is nothing more than a comfort blanket. Don’t argue with me, argue with the New England Journal of Medicine, which also wrote about the “symbolic roles” masks play in healthcare:

“Masks are not only tools, they are also talismans that may help increase health care workers’ perceived sense of safety, well-being, and trust in their hospitals. Although such reactions may not be strictly logical, we are all subject to fear and anxiety, especially during times of crisis."