The world's most trusted evaluator of medical studies, the Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews, has just released as close to a conclusive report on the effectiveness of masks against respiratory viruses such as COVID-19 as we are likely to have for the foreseeable future. The report assessed data from 78 different studies, including 11 new randomized controlled trials involving 610,872 participants.
In the words of one of the authors, Dr. Tom Jefferson of Oxford University, Cochrane concluded, "There is just no evidence that they (masks) make any difference. Full stop."
Among the reasons for that assessment was Cochrane's conclusion that states and countries with mask mandates fared no better than states and countries without.
Moreover, Dr. Jefferson's conclusions were not limited to cloth and surgical masks. Regarding N95 masks, Jefferson said, "Makes no difference -- none of it."
s for the early COVID-19 studies that policymakers cited to justify mandates for mask-wearing, Jefferson said: "They were convinced by nonrandomized studies, flawed observational studies."
For example, PolitiFact, one of the so-called "fact-checkers" whose primary function is to declare whatever differs from the Left as "false," declared in 2021 that studies "have consistently found that mask mandates cause sharp declines in coronavirus case rates."
In the words of one of the authors, Dr. Tom Jefferson of Oxford University, Cochrane concluded, "There is just no evidence that they (masks) make any difference. Full stop."
Among the reasons for that assessment was Cochrane's conclusion that states and countries with mask mandates fared no better than states and countries without.
Moreover, Dr. Jefferson's conclusions were not limited to cloth and surgical masks. Regarding N95 masks, Jefferson said, "Makes no difference -- none of it."
s for the early COVID-19 studies that policymakers cited to justify mandates for mask-wearing, Jefferson said: "They were convinced by nonrandomized studies, flawed observational studies."
For example, PolitiFact, one of the so-called "fact-checkers" whose primary function is to declare whatever differs from the Left as "false," declared in 2021 that studies "have consistently found that mask mandates cause sharp declines in coronavirus case rates."
Why the Left Is Pro-Mask
townhall.com