Covid-19 news: Mask wearing cuts infections by 53 per cent
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Review of studies reinforces the effectiveness of face coverings, handwashing and social distancing
Mask wearing is one of the most effective public health measures for preventing covid-19, reducing incidence of the disease by 53 per cent, according to a review of published research.
Stella Talic at Monash University in Australia and her colleagues carried out a meta-analysis using data from 72 studies to assess the effectiveness of non-pharmaceutical interventions – measures that don’t involve drugs – at containing the virus.
Handwashing was also estimated to reduce covid-19 incidence by 53 per cent, but this result was not statistically significant because only a small number of studies on it were included. Physical distancing was found to reduce incidence by 25 per cent.
Excuse me if I am far more sceptical. The above is is a 'New Scientist' (of course heavily dependant on advertising revenue) summary of the actual Monash article. It seems to have been based on only six studies where the "risk of bias ranged from moderate to serious or critical." So the reliability of the simplified conclusion that masks reduce risk of infection by 53% is immediately fundamentally undermined.
There is a gulf between simplistic conclusion and method employed in coming to it. As always the results of an investigation depend heavily on multiple factors including bias and preferred outcome. The Monash conclusion is second hand. It is an assessment of an assessment. They call it a 'meta-analysis. There appears to be a total absence of critical analysis of the premise and method of the studies involved.
Not until I discover a study that compares the medical outcomes of two groups of matched people, one wearing masks all the time, the other never wearing one, will I be convinced that mask wearing confers any health benefit. In fact I'd be prepared to put money on the fact that after an extended period, the mask wearers would have worse outcomes, particularly in relation to pulmonary aspects.
There is a question why such a study was not instituted, immediately the mask policy became obligatory or even years before it! The same question could be applied to the matter of the application of the jab by an agency independent of the manufacturers themselves.
If we are to believe the current 'case' rates, both 'vaccination' and the use of masks has been spectacularly ineffective. No one seems to acknowledge this fact. Instead government and health authorities continue, bull headed, to promote the same ludicrous policies.
If you can make head or tail of the substance of the following article on which the simplified conclusion that masks work is based, you are a better man than me Gunga Din.
Effectiveness of public health measures in reducing the incidence of covid-19, SARS-CoV-2 transmission, and covid-19 mortality: systematic review and meta-analysis
Mask wearing and covid-19 incidence—Six studies with a total of 2627 people with covid-19 and 389 228 participants were included in the analysis examining the effect of mask wearing on incidence of covid-19 (table 1).364357606366 Overall pooled analysis showed a 53% reduction in covid-19 incidence (0.47, 0.29 to 0.75), although heterogeneity between studies was substantial (I2=84%) (fig 5). Risk of bias across the six studies ranged from moderate36576066 to serious or critical4363 (fig 2).
Study characteristics and main results from studies that assessed individual personal protective and environmental measures
Meta-analysis of evidence on association between mask wearing and incidence of covid-19 using unadjusted random effect model
Mask wearing and transmission of SARS-CoV-2, covid-19 incidence, and covid-19 mortality—The results of additional studies that assessed mask wearing (not included in the meta-analysis because of substantial differences in the assessed outcomes) indicate a reduction in covid-19 incidence, SARS-CoV-2 transmission, and covid-19 mortality. Specifically, a natural experiment across 200 countries showed 45.7% fewer covid-19 related mortality in countries where mask wearing was mandatory (table 1).49 Another natural experiment study in the US reported a 29% reduction in SARS-CoV-2 transmission (measured as the time varying reproductive number Rt) (risk ratio 0.71, 95% confidence interval 0.58 to 0.75) in states where mask wearing was mandatory.58
A comparative study in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region reported a statistically significant lower cumulative incidence of covid-19 associated with mask wearing than in selected countries where mask wearing was not mandatory (table 1).69 Similarly, another natural experiment involving 15 US states reported a 2% statistically significant daily decrease in covid-19 transmission (measured as case growth rate) at ≥21 days after mask wearing became mandatory,50 whereas a cross sectional study reported that a 10% increase in self-reported mask wearing was associated with greater odds for control of SARS-CoV-2 transmission (adjusted odds ratio 3.53, 95% confidence interval 2.03 to 6.43).45 The five studies were rated at moderate risk of bias (fig 2).
According to a September 2021 analysis, based on conservative, best-case scenarios, the COVID shots have killed five times more seniors (65+) than the infection
ReplyDeleteIn younger people and children, the risk associated with the COVID shot, compared to the risk of COVID-19, is bound to be even more pronounced
Data show higher vaccination rates do not translate into lower COVID-19 case rates
The COVID shots are an epic failure. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reports having more than 30,000 spontaneous reports of either hospitalizations and/or deaths among the fully vaccinated; data from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services show 300,000 vaccinated CMS recipients have been hospitalized with breakthrough infections; 60% of seniors over age 65 hospitalized for COVID-19 have been vaccinated
50% of reported deaths after COVID-19 “vaccination” occur within 24 hours; 80% occur within the first week. According to one report, 86% of deaths have no other explanation aside from a vaccine adverse event. A Scandinavian study concluded about 40% of post-jab deaths among seniors in assisted living homes are directly due to the injection
https://www.globalresearch.ca/covid-jab-far.../5761826...