Wearing masks make approximately zero difference

[everydayupsanddowns]

(no evidence they were effective)

I think we've been here before Amity? I don't think it is fair to say that there was no evidence.

I sent these links last year in one of our PM conversations about masks wearing in the context of the pandemic.

Trends in County-Level COVID-19 Incidence in Counties With and Without a Mask Mandate - Kansas, June 1-August 23, 2020 - PubMed
Study of masks in Kansas - “COVID-19 incidence (calculated as the 7-day rolling average number of new daily cases per 100,000 population) decreased (mean decrease of 0.08 cases per 100,000 per day; net decrease of 6%) among counties with a mask mandate (mandated counties) but continued to increase (mean increase of 0.11 cases per 100,000 per day; net increase of 100%) among counties without a mask mandate (nonmandated counties).”

Decline in COVID-19 Hospitalization Growth Rates Associated with Statewide Mask Mandates - 10 States, March-October 2020 - PubMed
Statewide mask mandates in 10 states - “Regression analysis demonstrated that weekly hospitalization growth rates declined by 2.9 percentage points (95% confidence interval [CI] = 0.3-5.5) among adults aged 40-64 years during the first 2 weeks after implementing statewide mask mandates.”

Evaluating the effectiveness of countywide mask mandates at reducing SARS-CoV-2 infection in the United States - PubMed
Evaluating the effectiveness of countywide mask mandates in the US - “These data showed statistically significant lower averages of SARS-CoV-2 daily infection in counties that passed mask mandates when compared with counties that did not. The difference-in-difference analysis revealed a 16.9% reduction in predicted COVID-19 cases at the end of 30 days.”

The Burden of Coronavirus Disease 2019-Related Cases, Hospitalizations, and Mortality Based on Vaccination Status and Mandated Mask Use: Statewide Data From Wisconsin and Narrative Review of the Literature - PubMed
Vaccination status and mask mandates in Wisconsin - “Strict adherence to public mask use and fully vaccinated status are associated with improved COVID-19-related outcomes and can mitigate the spread, morbidity, and mortality of COVID-19.”

We seem to have got trapped in another circular conversation about historic mask wearing decisions (which is no longer suggested or required).

I am sure the Cochrane review will form part of any future decisions on whether requesting people wear masks in public places is appropriate in any future health emergency. So I thank you for sharing that link.

But I don't think the circular nature of the thread is particularly helpful or relevant to the forum, since it's no longer a current issue, so I'm going to lock it.

Update: Cochrane issues apology https://forum.diabetes.org.uk/boards/threads/masks-cochrane-says-oops-sorry.105235/