10/4/22
So today I received an email concerning a major university's changes to their COVID policy and something jumped out at me as I read their nonsense and thought it was worth noting here.
Their letter starts out (my bold) “Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, the University of Rochester has relied on the best information available to make sound policy decisions and keep our University community safe and healthy. From the very beginning, we listened to the expert guidance of our medical professionals, and like our local, state, and federal agencies, we used measurable data and reliable science to guide our recommendations and protocols…since masking is still an effective method to prevent the spread of COVID-19 and many other contagious illnesses including the flu, we expect people who are experiencing symptoms of COVID or other contagious illnesses to isolate if possible,”
The fact that these policies on masking are STILL being touted as “best information” and that it is presented as fact that masks are effective at preventing COVID (and the flu) are both disappointing and infuriating. If you’ve been with me since the early times, you will know there is ABSOLUTELY NO EVIDENCE that masks do anything for COVID or the flu or anything else. By the way, if masks are so effective, why do you still expect me to isolate? Go back and read the quote after the ellipsis, this was written by someone in authority at a major American University and makes no sense at all. HIGHER EDUCATION!!
Two quick quotes:
First the World Health Organization in their pandemic guidelines, which were 10 years in the updating and published in October 2019, JUST BEFORE the world went to hell.
On mask-wearing: “Ten RCTs were included in the meta-analysis, and there was no evidence that face masks are effective in reducing transmission of laboratory-confirmed influenza.” “RCTs” are randomized controlled trials” which are considered the “gold standard” of scientific inquiry. Here they looked at ALL relevant studies concerning mask-wearing in the history of the world and found NOTHING to justify their use. They do, however, go on to say “Reusable cloth face masks are not recommended. Medical face masks are generally not reusable, and an adequate supply would be essential if the use of face masks was recommended. If worn by a symptomatic case, that person might require multiple masks per day for multiple days of illness.” How many of you used the same mask for days if not weeks on end? How many of you remember Tony Fauci telling you that “reusable cloth face masks are not recommended”? Maybe Rochelle Walensky said it? No? Didn’t think so. In fact they told us in NO UNCERTAIN TERMS to use cloth face masks, remember?
Then there is a paper published by the CDC itself in their very own Journal of Emerging Infectious Diseases in May of 2020 – already THREE FULL MONTHS INTO THE PANDEMIC. Do you remember hearing about this research PUBLISHED BY THE CDC from Rachel Maddow? No? Didn’t think so. Anyway, this is apparently the research upon which the WHO recommendations were made. On masks: “In our systematic review, we identified 10 RCTs that reported estimates of the effectiveness of face masks in reducing laboratory-confirmed influenza virus infections in the community from literature published during 1946–July 27, 2018. In pooled analysis, we found no significant reduction in influenza transmission with the use of face masks.” So in 70 YEARS of research there was no significant evidence to support mask usage, For those who “know” that masking kids in school is DEFINITELY beneficial: “Two studies in university settings assessed the effectiveness of face masks for primary protection by monitoring the incidence of laboratory-confirmed influenza among student hall residents for 5 months (9,10). The overall reduction in ILI or laboratory-confirmed influenza cases in the face mask group was not significant in either studies (9,10).”
Many of us realize now that both the WHO and the CDC are just cesspools full of dumpster fires, but they are still considered by the “experts” and talking heads to be THE authoritative sources of healthcare information on the planet, and they tell us that masks have NO PROVEN EFFICACY anywhere, ever. But for reasons unclear, those very same “experts” are still telling us that “masking is still an effective method to prevent the spread of COVID-19 and many other contagious illnesses including the flu,”
What POSSIBLE reason could there be for this? Is it political ideology? Is it hysterical irrationality? Or is it plain old stupidity (this one gets my vote)? Are the people (and there are a lot of them) still pushing masks as having some value simply illiterate and innumerate? Can they not read or understand what “no significant reduction” means?
Anthony Fauci knew damn well the scientific literature showed no value to masking and was being honest (for the last time) in March of 2020 when he laughed about masks and said they were a waste of time. He in fact counseled in an email in February of 2020 (not publicly) with the former Secretary of Health and Human Services “The typical mask you buy in the drug store is not really effective in keeping out virus, which is small enough to pass through the material. It might, however, provide some slight benefit in keep out gross droplets if someone coughs or sneezes on you. I do not recommend that you wear a mask, particularly since you are going to a very low risk location.” Then magically a month later he was “following the science” and did an about face. They then pushed the lie that Fauci was in fact actually lying in March to “protect the supply of masks” for front line workers, and lots of people swallowed that one whole too. But nobody seemed to ask what had happened to the supply of masks between March and April that now made it OK for Fauci to “tell the truth” so everyone could start using up the mask “supply”. Did the supply of masks suddenly increase exponentially so everyone could have them now? And more importantly, exactly what “science” changed in just one month to make masks so crucial? A month is simply not enough time to gather that kind of data. The Danish Mask Study, which showed no significant benefit to masking, took TWO MONTHS to conduct (and some time to design and implement) and was completed in early June of 2020 but for reasons I’ll leave to your imagination was not published for some SIX MONTHS, until AFTER the presidential election. And even more importantly than that, when did this epidemic of people coughing or sneezing in other people’s faces begin? I’m 57 years old and don’t remember ever seeing that happen; not once.
During this pandemic there have in fact been several attempts to prove masks work through randomized controlled trials but NONE of them have shown any benefit beyond “something slightly more than zero”. Interestingly, the CDC endeavored to conduct exactly ZERO trials of mask usage in the real world. I wonder why. Oh there have been plenty of papers touting the “protection” of masking over the last two and a half years; you’ll hear all sorts of claims of how many millions of lives were saved by masking but, alas, they’re all “models” which as I have discussed before are crap on a cracker. The actual data says they are of no significant benefit. So the question remains, why is this myth still being pushed so hard and so regularly? Why has it just been accepted as “fact”? It is a complete LIE (or at the very least has no data to support such a claim) and yet it is now part of the zeitgeist of American life. Please notice in the college letter above how not only are masks protective against COVID and the flu (clearly not true), but against “many other contagious illnesses” as well. Really? Do tell.
What other policies are being guided by their “measurable data and reliable science”? Oh I don't know...how about forcing vaccines on kids who don't need them but who are just the right age (males) to get from myocarditis from the vax. That's some "reliable science" right there. I’m not picking on Rochester here, by the way. Every school and pretty much every other institution in America will say the exact same thing, and yet it isn’t true.
Pay attention to the language, it’s important. As the saying goes, “If you don’t stand for something, you’ll fall for anything.”
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