Through the COVID-19 pandemic, 80% of U.S. states mandated masks to sluggish the unfold of SARS-CoV-2, however accumulating analysis reveals masks mandates and use don’t decrease the unfold of the virus.1 Whereas guidelines requiring masks did improve compliance, they did not translate to decrease transmission progress charges, whether or not group unfold of SARS-CoV-2 was low or excessive.

Even earlier than COVID-19 was declared a pandemic, masks mandates had been put in place with out ever correctly evaluating efficacy, however that did not cease them from dividing communities and getting used as a type of advantage signaling and a visual reminder of compliance with the “new regular.”

Now, with analysis displaying not solely that masks do not shield you however may very well make you sick, the rationale behind their widespread mandated utilization should be questioned.

Masks Mandates Did not Decrease COVID-19 Circumstances

Utilizing CDC knowledge, researchers with the College of Louisville calculated complete COVID-19 case progress and masks use for the U.S. No important variations had been present in case progress between mandate and non-mandate states in periods of low or excessive transmission.

“Surges had been equivocal,” they famous, concluding, “Masks mandates and use are usually not related to slower state-level COVID-19 unfold throughout COVID-19 progress surges.”2 Whereas stating that their findings “don’t help the speculation that SARS-CoV-2 transmission charges lower with higher public masks use,” they did notice that “masks could promote social cohesion as rallying symbols throughout a pandemic.”3

Equally dismal outcomes from masks mandates had been demonstrated in Europe. A research revealed in Cureus analyzed knowledge from 35 European international locations, together with morbidity, mortality and masks utilization, over a six-month interval. The researchers famous:4

“Masks mandates had been applied in virtually all world international locations and in most locations the place masks weren’t compulsory, their use in public areas was really helpful … These mandates and suggestions passed off although most randomized managed trials carried out earlier than and in the course of the COVID-19 pandemic concluded that the function of masks in stopping respiratory viral transmission was small, null, or inconclusive.”

When the information had been analyzed, the research additionally revealed that the widespread use of masks didn’t scale back COVID-19 transmission. Worse, a reasonable constructive correlation was discovered between masks utilization and deaths in Western Europe, which “means that the common use of masks could have had dangerous unintended penalties.”5

Masks Mandates in Colleges Did not Scale back COVID-19 Circumstances

As a part of the federal government sponsored propaganda marketing campaign, a extensively cited CDC research, revealed in October 2021, reported that counties with out college masks mandates had bigger will increase in COVID-19 case charges in youngsters after the beginning of faculty in contrast with counties that had college masks mandates.6

The research was used to help college masks mandates, however a group of researchers revisited the analysis, incorporating a bigger pattern dimension and longer research interval. The up to date research,7 revealed in Might 2022, used practically six occasions extra knowledge in comparison with the unique research and located no important relationship between masks mandates in U.S. colleges and COVID-19 case charges. In line with the researchers:8

“We failed to determine a relationship between college masking and pediatric circumstances utilizing the identical strategies however a bigger, extra nationally numerous inhabitants over an extended interval. Our research demonstrates that observational research of interventions with small to reasonable impact sizes are liable to bias attributable to choice and omitted variables. Randomized research can extra reliably inform public well being coverage.”

On Twitter, surgeon and public coverage researcher Dr. Marty Makary identified that the CDC’s unique research appeared to incorporate cherry-picked knowledge and the company refused to publish an replace utilizing the extra intensive knowledge:9

“This research demonstrates how the CDC was cherry-picking knowledge to help their college masks dogma. The article states that CDC’s MMWR journal rejected publishing this re-analysis. Almost definitely as a result of it uncovered the CDCs salami-slicing of knowledge & use of science as political propaganda.”

It must be famous {that a} earlier CDC research discovered masks necessities for college students had little impact on COVID-19 incidence in Georgia colleges, whereas improved air flow, akin to opening a window, lowered circumstances greater than masks mandates for workers and academics.10

The Foegen Impact: Masks Mandates Elevated COVID-19 Deaths

A profoundly essential research was carried out by German doctor Dr. Zacharias Fögen to search out out whether or not obligatory masks use influenced the COVID-19 case fatality price in Kansas from August 1, 2020, to October 15, 2020.11 He selected the state of Kansas as a result of, whereas it issued a masks mandate, counties had been allowed to both decide in or out of it.

His evaluation revealed that counties with a masks mandate had considerably increased case fatality charges than counties and not using a masks mandate. “These findings counsel that masks use may pose a but unknown menace to the consumer as a substitute of defending them, making masks mandates a debatable epidemiologic intervention,” he concluded.

That menace, he defined, could also be one thing referred to as the “Foegen impact” — the concept deep re-inhalation of droplets and virions caught on facemasks may make COVID-19 an infection extra seemingly or extra extreme.

“The basics of this impact are simply demonstrated when sporting a facemask and glasses on the identical time by pulling the higher fringe of the masks over the decrease fringe of the glasses. Droplets seem on the masks when respiratory out and disappear when inhaling.”

“Within the “Foegen impact,” the virions unfold (due to their smaller dimension) deeper into the respiratory tract. They bypass the bronchi and are inhaled deep into the alveoli, the place they’ll trigger pneumonia as a substitute of bronchitis, which might be typical of a virus an infection.

Moreover, these virions bypass the multilayer squamous epithelial wall that they can not go into in vitro and most certainly can not go into in vivo. Due to this fact, the one possible approach for the virions to enter the blood vessels is thru the alveoli.”12

Carrying Masks May Be Associated to Lengthy COVID

Fögen defined that sporting masks might find yourself growing your total viral load as a result of, as a substitute of exhaling virions out of your respiratory tract and ridding your physique of them, these virions are caught within the masks and returned. This may also have the impact of accelerating the variety of virions that go by way of the masks, such that it turns into greater than the quantity that might have been shed and not using a masks.

The truth that “hypercondensed droplets and pure virions within the masks could be blown outwards throughout expiration, leading to aerosol transmission as a substitute of droplet transmission” is one other subject that might make transmission worse as a substitute of higher, and using “extra protecting” masks might additionally backfire, making COVID-19’s long-term results worse. Fögen defined:13

“Using “higher” masks (e.g., FFP2, FFP3) with a better droplet-filtering capability in all probability ought to trigger a fair stronger “Foegen impact” as a result of the variety of virions which might be doubtlessly re-inhaled will increase in the identical approach that outward shedding is lowered.

One other salient level is that COVID-19-related long-term results and multisystem inflammatory syndrome in youngsters could all be a direct explanation for the “Foegen impact.” Virus entry into the alveoli and blood with out being restricted to the higher respiratory tract and bronchi and might trigger harm by initiating an (auto) immune response in most organs.”

Clear Dangers of Extended Masks Use

Two knowledgeable studies spoke out towards using masks for youngsters in 2021. The primary, a psychology report,14 said that masks are prone to be inflicting psychological hurt to youngsters and interfering with improvement.15 “The extent of psychological hurt to younger individuals is unknown,” the report said, “because of the distinctive nature of the ‘social experiment’ presently underway in colleges, and in wider society.”16

The second report centered on well being, security and well-being,17 noting potential everlasting bodily harm to the lungs attributable to fibrosis from inhalation of fibrous nanoparticles.

“There are actual and important risks of respiratory an infection, oral well being deterioration and of lung damage, akin to pneumothorax, owing to moisture buildup and in addition publicity to doubtlessly dangerous ranges of an asphyxiant gasoline (carbon dioxide [CO2]) which might trigger severe damage to well being,” the authors defined.18

Usually, the CO2 then dissipates into the air round you earlier than you are taking one other breath. Within the open air, carbon dioxide sometimes exists at about 400 elements per million (ppm), or 0.04% by quantity.

The German Federal Environmental Workplace set a restrict of CO2 for closed rooms of two,000 ppm, or 0.2% by quantity. When you’re sporting a facemask, the CO2 can not escape because it often does and as a substitute turns into trapped within the masks. In a research revealed in JAMA Pediatrics, researchers analyzed the CO2 content material of inhaled air amongst youngsters sporting two forms of masks, in addition to sporting no masks.19

Whereas no important distinction in CO2 was discovered between the 2 forms of masks, there was a major elevation when sporting masks in comparison with not sporting them. CO2 in inhaled air beneath surgical and filtering facepiece masks got here in between 13,120 ppm and 13,910 ppm, “which is increased than what’s already deemed unacceptable by the German Federal Environmental Workplace by an element of 6,” the researchers famous.20

Additionally essential, this degree was reached after solely three minutes, whereas youngsters put on masks at college for a imply of 270 minutes at a time. Even the kid who had the bottom measured CO2 degree had a measurement three-fold higher than the closed room CO2 restrict of 0.2%. Nonetheless, youthful youngsters appeared to have the best CO2 values; a degree of 25,000 ppm was measured from a 7-year-old sporting a facemask.21

Bacterial An infection Danger, Issues With Social Studying

The complete penalties of extended masks use are solely starting to be understood. The College of Louisville researchers famous, nonetheless, that utilizing a masks for greater than 4 hours per day “promotes facial alkalinization and inadvertently encourages dehydration, which in flip can improve barrier breakdown and bacterial an infection danger.”22 Different reported antagonistic results embrace:23

Improve in complications and sweating

Decreased cognitive precision

Affiliation with medical errors

Interference with social studying in youngsters

Obscured nonverbal communication

Distorted verbal speech

Elimination of visible cues, which is detrimental to individuals with listening to loss

After a lawsuit was introduced by Leslie Manookian’s Well being Freedom Protection Fund (HFDF), U.S. District Decide Kathryn Kimball Mizelle lastly voided the CDC’s U.S. masks mandate on airplanes and public transit in April 2022.24 The U.S. Division of Justice (DoJ) has appealed the court docket order,25 nonetheless, making it clear that they do not intend to surrender on masks mandates and not using a battle. In response, HFDF issued the next assertion:26

“DoJ’s assertion [that it would appeal] is perplexing to say the least and sounds prefer it comes from well being coverage advocates not authorities attorneys. The ruling by the US District Courtroom ruling is a matter of regulation, not CDC choice or an evaluation of ‘present well being situations.’

If there’s in actual fact a public well being emergency with clear and irrefutable science supporting CDC’s masks mandate, does it not warrant pressing motion? Why would DoJ and CDC not instantly attraction?

HFDF is left with no choice however to conclude that the Masks Mandate can be a political matter and in no way about pressing public well being points or the calls for of sound science. Whereas DoJ and CDC play politics with Individuals’ well being and freedoms, HFDF trusts particular person Individuals to make their very own well being selections.

HFDF is assured that Individuals possess ample widespread sense and schooling to grasp that there are actual questions on masks efficacy and danger and that CDC’s coverage displays neither.”

You’ll be able to help the Well being Freedom Protection Fund and push again towards the DoJ and CDC by taking to social media. Please observe and/or just like the HFDF on the next platforms, share their content material, and invite your followers to do the identical:

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