Well, it looks like we have another example of pseudo science with gibberish posing as research.
Wearing a face mask can protect you from the coronavirus as well as stopping you spreading it to others, according to scientists.
Officials in Britain insist the main benefit of wearing face coverings is that they catch coughs and sneezes of the wearer, preventing them from spreading the virus to people around them.
But researchers argue the wearer may also benefit because they could inhale smaller quantities of coronavirus if they are exposed to it.
By reducing the amount of virus inhaled, it will make illness milder — and could even prevent deaths, according to a team at the University of California.
I’ve highlighted the relevant words. “could,” and “may” say it all. This isn’t research, this is back of a fag packet policy based evidence creation.
A study on hamsters which showed those who were in a cage cloaked and protected by a mask material had mild disease compared to those who did not.
Er, yes, I know that animals are used for the early stages of research, but this is hardly anything close to conclusive. This is desperate, desperate stuff. We’ve been here before, of course, with alcohol, tobacco and obesity where these charlatans will take statistically insignificant findings and extrapolate them with no regard for real world situations to make a case that was so wafer thin it was transparent. Now, they are basing their conclusions on hamsters. They are starting to make the medieval Catholic Church look like paragons of scientific method.
Outbreaks on cruise ships where passengers wore face coverings resulted in milder cases of the coronavirus, the University of California paper also said.
It has previously been reported that crew members who wore masks while on a coronavirus ridden US warship were protected from the virus.
Scientists closely monitored what happened on the USS Theodore Roosevelt when coronavirus broke out among military personnel on it in March.
That same evidence showed us that only about 20% of people exposed actually developed symptoms, suggesting that rather than masks, we have an inbuilt T cell immunity. And as has been repeatedly demonstrated elsewhere, the 0.3% death rate on board showed us that this is not a massive killer disease that the media would have us believe.
As I say, they really are scraping the barrel here, because although the cruise ships may have acted as floating petri dishes, they are still statistically insignificant. Interesting, yes, conclusive, no.
The level of desperation here is so intense, I can smell it.
I now have the amusing image of a hamster wearing a teeny-weeny mask with loops round its tiny ears throwing shade at the other one in the cage who’s mask free. :>
I might be succumbing to hysteria.
The hamster without the mask is a selfish bastard who doesn’t care how many other hamsters die.
What about guinea pigs, should I make them masks.
Aside from the humour, if the Roosevelt was a military ship, no doubt the personnel onboard were servicemen and women. Surely they would be at the peak of fitness so would be less likely to suffer a bad dose as it was the ones with underlying problems that were dying or getting it worse.
Therefore not a good comparison.
How long did it take for the science is settled that masks are useless to change 180% so everyone must mask up or we’ll all die ?
I have a screen shot of the outer packaging of those pale blue ear loop masks “this product will not protect against coronovirus 19 other viruses or contaminants”
The rather more substantial full black masks are becoming more fashionable, rather fetching in a nazi, XR, Antifa sort of way.
There has been another development, Donald Trump has said that people should wear masks. Since anything that Orange Man says has to be wrong by definition, that leaves the mask advocates in a difficult position.
This new ‘advice’ is counter intuitive in the extreme. Peak infection, when masks might have done a little good is long past. Now wearing one of those cloth masks may result in more respiratory infections as, has been pointed out time and again, if not boil washed thoroughly after each use will become like stuffing one’s face into a thrice-used nappy.
Indeed, referring to them as ‘face-nappies’ might prove useful in the war of words against this insanity.
https://www.rcreader.com/commentary/masks-dont-work-covid-a-review-of-science-relevant-to-covide-19-social-policy
Actual scientific studies with humans:
Long story short, useless at best.