Repeal Mask Mandates in Schools and Communities
Repeal Mask Mandates in Schools and Communities
The Issue
Please join us "The Not-so-silent Majority" in speaking out against forced masking, ESPECIALLY when pertaining to schools and our children. The letter and resources below have been submitted to Local and National Government, School Boards and Social Media outlets specifically targeting Charlotte and Sarasota County Schools and communities, but also acknowledging that the voices of this petition are carried throughout the country. We must advocate for our children! They NEED in person schooling, social emotional connections, the structure of in-class learning, and above all, a semblance of NORMALCY. Please help us multiply our voice!
To Whom It May Concern:
As I sit down to write this, backed by the support of many friends, colleagues, and fellow Americans, I feel quite defeated. All of us represented in this letter and petition; your constituents, your neighbors, communities, small business owners, consumers, parents, children; we all feel flabbergasted and are desperate to be heard. I write to implore those in positions of leadership to implement change (whether it be local, political or media based) to listen to these voices and the material presented with an open mind and a commitment to critical thinking, as well as a heart for the tremendous value of liberties. The future of our most precious asset, our children, is worth that much, at the very least.
I digress to my main point today, which is the Forced Masking, especially in our children. Over the last few weeks and days, School Boards and County officials have been releasing increasingly stringent rules and measures for our kids returning to school. The most recent of these include that “Children (… or Employees) with Medical Exemptions to mask mandates will receive a card and will be required to enforce additional distancing and health checks…” further ostracizing those with disabilities or conditions from the general public and their peers.
I understand that there is not a clear answer to many of the questions we all have, however I challenge each of you to look into the lack of supporting evidence. While I do not claim to be the authority on any of these viewpoints, I am a desperate parent, like many of you, advocating for my children. There is an excerpt from the Nuremberg Code Article 6, Section 3 stating: The degree of risk to be taken should never exceed that determined by the humanitarian importance of the problem to be solved by the experiment. “In no case should a collective agreement or the consent of a community leader or any other authority substitute for an individual’s informed consent.” Preventing access to food, healthcare, transportation or education for non-compliance must remain voluntary. Under the pretense of that ideology, there are two main points supported by the following data:
1. There is no consensus within the scientific community on the efficacy of masks. If the Medical and Scientific communities are split on the efficacy of this issue, (and they are almost split down the middle as many of you have seen; for every peer reviewed article you read stating one side of the argument, there is another peer reviewed article stating the opposite) mandates and the loss of informed and educated choice of families and individuals should not be prohibited as it is not accepted by overwhelming evidence or scientific data. The question then boils down to the second point:
2. Do the benefits outweigh the risks? The effectiveness of forced masking, when worn appropriately, is shown to be minimal, at best. However the dangerous long term effects physically, emotionally and mentally, especially in children, are numerous and highly concerning. When we look at the psychological repercussions coupled with the physical risk components and side effects of long term mask use, it is inconceivable that we would ever force something like this on a child without them or their parents’ consent. The benefits do not outweigh the risks and we are doing more harm than good.
I recognize that there are many sides and opinions that those in positions of leadership are trying to juggle and assuage. Others have pushed for mandates, loud in their convictions, but I promise you there are just as many of us, if not more, that feel the opposite and if necessary, we can be loud too. I write this letter with attached petition, representing the voice of these community members, parents, and fellow Americans that demand to be heard. I implore you to look at the following data and recognize that there are two very polarized answers to this question, that there is NO consensus among the field, and that you repeal mandates that take away the choice of the individual and furthermore have the potential to cause great harm, especially to our children.
Thank you.
Sincerely,
The Not-so-silent Majority
SAMPLE OF REFERENCES:
Universal Face Masks: Risk vs. Benefits
(1) Comprehensive Article as of August 18, 2020 on the efficacy of masks: https://www.meehanmd.com/blog/2020-06-12-healthy-people-should-not-wear-face-masks/
(2) Face masks do not prevent the wearer from transmission by others.” Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA); April 21, 2020 Volume 323, Number 15 https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jama/fullarticle/2762694
(3) “By wearing a mask, the exhaled viruses will not be able to escape and will concentrate in the nasal passages, enter the olfactory nerves and travel into the brain. We know that people who have the worst reactions to the coronavirus have the highest concentrations of the virus early on. And this leads to the deadly cytokine storm in a selected number.” Blaylock: Face Masks Pose Serious Risks To The Healthy; https://www.technocracy.news/blaylock-face-masks-pose-serious-risks-to-the-healthy/
(4) “… Proper oxygenation of the blood is essential for energy, mental clarity, focus and emotional well-being.” (Ong JJY et al. Headaches associated with personal protective equipment- A cross sectional study among frontline healthcare workers during COVID-19. Headache 2020;60(5):864-877.)
(5) Face Masks can Increase Risk of Infection(3 listed sources). 1. Shehade H et al. Cutting edge: Hypoxia-Inducible Factor-1 negatively regulates Th1 function. J Immunol 2015;195:1372-1376. 2. Westendorf AM et al. Hypoxia enhances immunosuppression by inhibiting CD4+ effector T cell function and promoting Treg activity. Cell Physiol Biochem 2017;41:1271-84. 3. Sceneay J et al. Hypoxia-driven immunosuppression contributes to the premetastatic niche. Oncoimmunology 2013;2:1 e22355.)
(6) “Wearing a mask reinforces the worry and fear about COVID-19. Even being in public mask-less and seeing that most people are wearing masks leaves one with a sense of angst. Fear, worry and anxiety are powerful immune suppressing emotions. This is another factor relating to the immunosuppressive effects of face masks.” Cytokines: Stress and Immunity– Second Edition 2007.
(7) CDC: “Available evidence shows that (cloth masks)… may even increase the risk of infection due to moisture, liquid diffusion and retention of the virus. Penetration of particles through cloth is reported to be high.” “Altogether, common fabric cloth masks are not considered protective against respiratory viruses and their use should not be encouraged.” https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/hcp/ppe-strategy/face-masks.html
(8) “Generally, when masks are worn, they increase the resistance of breathing resulting in increase in CO2 in the dead space of the mask. As a result, the wearer encounters increased work of breathing needing more effort, causing discomfort and fatigue… Limitations of this study include the children wore the mask for short durations of time, just about 5 minutes.” Includes “Exclusion Criteria” and acknowledgement of inferiority of surgical or cloth masks. “Although more comfortable, surgical masks (SM) and also medical masks (MM), tested in various studies have been shown to perform poorly as protection against airborne and particulate infection.” A randomized Clinical Trial to Evaluate the Safety, Fit, Comfort of novel N95 Mask in Children. https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-019-55451-w
(9) A German psychological study with about 1000 participants found “severe psychosocial consequences” due to the introduction of mandatory face masks. https://corona-transition.org/der-maskenzwang-ist-verantwortlich-fur-schwere-psychische-schaden-und-die
Considering the Psychological Impact of Mask/Extreme Measures on Children:
(3) https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0177239
Looking at Statistics IN CONTEXT (1):
Age group 5-14 = 19 COVID deaths vs. 2,498 deaths due to other causes
Age group 5-24 = 202 COVID deaths vs. 15,609 deaths due to other causes
Teacher Age Groups: “The average age of teachers in the US is 42 years old (2). In that age ranges (35-44), there have been 2,554 deaths due to COVID out of 45,974 total deaths due to other causes. Hence, adults in this age group are 18 times more likely to die of something other than COVID. In addition, the recent Nature publication on COVID risks assigned a Hazard Ratio of zero to this age group, meaning that being this old related to no additional risk for COVID death (3). In fact, being up to age 55 conferred no additional risk. Based on data from the National Center for Education Statistics, only 20% of school teachers are over age 55 (4). Hence, 80% of school teachers have no additional COVID-19 risk based on age” – Dr. Chris Centeno, M.D. (5)
(1) The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Provisional COVID-19 Death Counts by Sex, Age, and State. https://data.cdc.gov/widgets/9bhg-hcku Accessed 8/1/20
(2) National Center for Education Statistics. Schools and Staffing Survey. Table 2. Average and median age of public school teachers and percentage distribution of teachers, by age category, sex, and state: 2011–12. https://nces.ed.gov/surveys/sass/tables/sass1112_2013314_t1s_002.asp
(3) Williamson EJ, Walker AJ, Bhaskaran K, et al. OpenSAFELY: factors associated with COVID-19 death in 17 million patients [published online ahead of print, 2020 Jul 8]. Nature. 2020;10.1038/s41586-020-2521-4. doi:10.1038/s41586-020-2521-4
(4) National Center for Education Statistics. Schools and Staffing Survey. Table 3. Percentage distribution of school teachers by age category, average and median age of teachers, and percentage distribution of teachers, by sex, school type, and selected school characteristics: 2007–08. Table 3. Percentage distribution of school teachers by age category, average and median age of teachers, and percentage distribution of teachers, by sex, school type, and selected school characteristics: 2007–08
(5) https://covidfactfiction.com/back-to-school-or-stay-home-what-the-science-says/
Data supporting Mask pose Minimal Mitigation in Preventing Viral Infection:
(1) “As for the scientific support for the use of face masks, a recent careful examination of the literature, in which 17 of the best studies were analyzed, concluded that, “None of the studies established a conclusive relationship between mask/respirator use and protection…” https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/j.1750-2659.2011.00307.x
(2) “Even accepting the uncertain premise that masks are useful, "incorrect use and disposal may actually increase the risk of pathogen transmission, rather than reduce it, especially when masks are used by non-professionals such as the lay public." Given that most "masks" are simply kept handy for use when required, set aside, and then re-used, most mask-wearing by the public is likely to increase virus exposure, not reduce it.” https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/16295987/
(3) “Wearing facemasks to reduce the spread of COVID-19is not recommended for individuals in the community without respiratory symptoms…” https://www.fhi.no/globalassets/dokumenterfiler/rapporter/2020/should-individuals-in-the-community-without-respiratory-symptoms-wear-facemasks-to-reduce-the-spread-of-covid-19-report-2020.pdf
(4) A July 2020 review by the Oxford Centre for Evidence-Based Medicine found that there is no evidence for the effectiveness of cloth masks against virus infection or transmission. https://www.cebm.net/covid-19/masking-lack-of-evidence-with-politics/
(5) A July 2020 study by Japanese researchers found that cloth masks “offer zero protection against coronavirus” due to their large pore size and generally poor fit” http://www.asahi.com/ajw/articles/13523664
(6) “A randomized controlled trial comparing the ability of medical and cloth masks to prevent healthcare workers from contracting the flu found that those workers wearing cloth masks were 13 times more likely to get a respiratory viral infection than those wearing medical masks” MacIntyre CR, Seale H, Dung TC, et al. A cluster randomised trial of cloth masks compared with medical masks in healthcare workers.BMJ Open 2015 Apr 22;5(4):e006577
(7) “None of the studies established a conclusive relationship between mask/respirator use and protection against influenza infection” Bin-Reza F, Lopez Chavarrias V, Nicoll A, Chamberland ME. The use of masks and respirators to prevent transmission of influenza: a systematic review of the scientific evidence. Influenza Other Respir Viruses. 2012;6(4):257–267. doi:10.1111/j.1750-2659.2011.00307.x
(8) Aiello AE, Perez V, Coulborn RM, Davis BM, Uddin M, Monto AS. Facemasks, hand hygiene, and influenza among young adults: a randomized intervention trial. PLoS One. 2012;7(1):e29744. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0029744
(9) “Based on the quality of the surgical mask construction, surgical masks pass up to 80% of these particles through the front. That says nothing of the particles passing around the sides of the mask.” Chen CC, Willeke K. Aerosol penetration through surgical masks. Am J Infect Control. 1992;20(4):177‐184. doi:10.1016/s0196-6553(05)80143-9
(10)“The CDC … gave some scientific references, none of which were studies where mask use was actually tested. In fact, they all relate to the possibility of asymptomatic transmission of the SARS-CoV-2 virus, which later data has shown to be rare.”
a. CDC’s Information on Cloth Face Coverings: https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/prevent-getting-sick/diy-cloth-face-coverings.html
b. CDC Editorial in JAMA: Brooks JT, Butler JC, Redfield RR. Time for universal masking and prevention of transmission of SARS-CoV-2. JAMA. Published online July 14, 2020. doi:10.1001/jama.2020.13107 https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jama/fullarticle/10.1001/jama.2020.13107external icon
c. MMWR Article: No Transmission of Symptomatic SARS-CoV-2 After Significant Exposure With Universal Face Mask Use at a Hair Salon – Springfield, Missouri, May 2020 https://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/volumes/69/wr/mm6928e2.htm?s_cid=mm6928e2_w
(11)“Wearing an N-95 mask significantly reduced infections among healthcare workers but the surgical masks did nothing to reduce infections” Loeb M, McGeer A, Henry B, et al. SARS among critical care nurses, Toronto.Emerg Infect Dis 2004 Feb;10(2):251-5
(12)“Surgical masks are designed to protect patients from a surgeon’s respiratory droplets, aren’t effective at blocking particles smaller than 100 μm. “ https://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:VLXWeZBll7YJ:https://multimedia.3m.com/mws/media/957730O/respirators-and-surgical-masks-contrast-technical-bulletin.pdf+&cd=13&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=us
(13)“Penetration of cloth masks by particles was 97%...” https://bmjopen.bmj.com/content/5/4/e006577
(14)Scientific Levels of Evidence Medicine: “It is critical to note that only studies that meet level 1 or 2 on this chart get to use the term “proven”. In fact, real sticklers in the realm of evidence-based medicine would argue that only studies that meet level 1 can use that term. Everything else is “unproven”. Having said that, studies in level 3 would be pretty good evidence. Level 4 here would be “OK” evidence that could at least be passable to start a discussion. Level 5 and below is all interesting stuff and needed to start building an evidence base, but regrettably isn’t sufficient to prove that masks reduce the spread of COVID-19.” Reference Image Below:
https://covidfactfiction.com/mask-use-and-covid19-research-grading/
“As you can see, not a single study or case report used in the media as “proof” that mask use prevents the spread of COVID-19 rose to high-level or moderate level grades of clinical evidence.” See reference chart below:
“New research shows that the receptor used by the coronavirus to enter cells (ACE-2) is not as prevalent in the nasal passages of the young” Bunyavanich S, Do A, Vicencio A. Nasal Gene Expression of Angiotensin-Converting Enzyme 2 in Children and Adults [published online ahead of print, 2020 May 20]. JAMA. 2020;323(23):2427-2429. doi:10.1001/jama.2020.8707
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The Issue
Please join us "The Not-so-silent Majority" in speaking out against forced masking, ESPECIALLY when pertaining to schools and our children. The letter and resources below have been submitted to Local and National Government, School Boards and Social Media outlets specifically targeting Charlotte and Sarasota County Schools and communities, but also acknowledging that the voices of this petition are carried throughout the country. We must advocate for our children! They NEED in person schooling, social emotional connections, the structure of in-class learning, and above all, a semblance of NORMALCY. Please help us multiply our voice!
To Whom It May Concern:
As I sit down to write this, backed by the support of many friends, colleagues, and fellow Americans, I feel quite defeated. All of us represented in this letter and petition; your constituents, your neighbors, communities, small business owners, consumers, parents, children; we all feel flabbergasted and are desperate to be heard. I write to implore those in positions of leadership to implement change (whether it be local, political or media based) to listen to these voices and the material presented with an open mind and a commitment to critical thinking, as well as a heart for the tremendous value of liberties. The future of our most precious asset, our children, is worth that much, at the very least.
I digress to my main point today, which is the Forced Masking, especially in our children. Over the last few weeks and days, School Boards and County officials have been releasing increasingly stringent rules and measures for our kids returning to school. The most recent of these include that “Children (… or Employees) with Medical Exemptions to mask mandates will receive a card and will be required to enforce additional distancing and health checks…” further ostracizing those with disabilities or conditions from the general public and their peers.
I understand that there is not a clear answer to many of the questions we all have, however I challenge each of you to look into the lack of supporting evidence. While I do not claim to be the authority on any of these viewpoints, I am a desperate parent, like many of you, advocating for my children. There is an excerpt from the Nuremberg Code Article 6, Section 3 stating: The degree of risk to be taken should never exceed that determined by the humanitarian importance of the problem to be solved by the experiment. “In no case should a collective agreement or the consent of a community leader or any other authority substitute for an individual’s informed consent.” Preventing access to food, healthcare, transportation or education for non-compliance must remain voluntary. Under the pretense of that ideology, there are two main points supported by the following data:
1. There is no consensus within the scientific community on the efficacy of masks. If the Medical and Scientific communities are split on the efficacy of this issue, (and they are almost split down the middle as many of you have seen; for every peer reviewed article you read stating one side of the argument, there is another peer reviewed article stating the opposite) mandates and the loss of informed and educated choice of families and individuals should not be prohibited as it is not accepted by overwhelming evidence or scientific data. The question then boils down to the second point:
2. Do the benefits outweigh the risks? The effectiveness of forced masking, when worn appropriately, is shown to be minimal, at best. However the dangerous long term effects physically, emotionally and mentally, especially in children, are numerous and highly concerning. When we look at the psychological repercussions coupled with the physical risk components and side effects of long term mask use, it is inconceivable that we would ever force something like this on a child without them or their parents’ consent. The benefits do not outweigh the risks and we are doing more harm than good.
I recognize that there are many sides and opinions that those in positions of leadership are trying to juggle and assuage. Others have pushed for mandates, loud in their convictions, but I promise you there are just as many of us, if not more, that feel the opposite and if necessary, we can be loud too. I write this letter with attached petition, representing the voice of these community members, parents, and fellow Americans that demand to be heard. I implore you to look at the following data and recognize that there are two very polarized answers to this question, that there is NO consensus among the field, and that you repeal mandates that take away the choice of the individual and furthermore have the potential to cause great harm, especially to our children.
Thank you.
Sincerely,
The Not-so-silent Majority
SAMPLE OF REFERENCES:
Universal Face Masks: Risk vs. Benefits
(1) Comprehensive Article as of August 18, 2020 on the efficacy of masks: https://www.meehanmd.com/blog/2020-06-12-healthy-people-should-not-wear-face-masks/
(2) Face masks do not prevent the wearer from transmission by others.” Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA); April 21, 2020 Volume 323, Number 15 https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jama/fullarticle/2762694
(3) “By wearing a mask, the exhaled viruses will not be able to escape and will concentrate in the nasal passages, enter the olfactory nerves and travel into the brain. We know that people who have the worst reactions to the coronavirus have the highest concentrations of the virus early on. And this leads to the deadly cytokine storm in a selected number.” Blaylock: Face Masks Pose Serious Risks To The Healthy; https://www.technocracy.news/blaylock-face-masks-pose-serious-risks-to-the-healthy/
(4) “… Proper oxygenation of the blood is essential for energy, mental clarity, focus and emotional well-being.” (Ong JJY et al. Headaches associated with personal protective equipment- A cross sectional study among frontline healthcare workers during COVID-19. Headache 2020;60(5):864-877.)
(5) Face Masks can Increase Risk of Infection(3 listed sources). 1. Shehade H et al. Cutting edge: Hypoxia-Inducible Factor-1 negatively regulates Th1 function. J Immunol 2015;195:1372-1376. 2. Westendorf AM et al. Hypoxia enhances immunosuppression by inhibiting CD4+ effector T cell function and promoting Treg activity. Cell Physiol Biochem 2017;41:1271-84. 3. Sceneay J et al. Hypoxia-driven immunosuppression contributes to the premetastatic niche. Oncoimmunology 2013;2:1 e22355.)
(6) “Wearing a mask reinforces the worry and fear about COVID-19. Even being in public mask-less and seeing that most people are wearing masks leaves one with a sense of angst. Fear, worry and anxiety are powerful immune suppressing emotions. This is another factor relating to the immunosuppressive effects of face masks.” Cytokines: Stress and Immunity– Second Edition 2007.
(7) CDC: “Available evidence shows that (cloth masks)… may even increase the risk of infection due to moisture, liquid diffusion and retention of the virus. Penetration of particles through cloth is reported to be high.” “Altogether, common fabric cloth masks are not considered protective against respiratory viruses and their use should not be encouraged.” https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/hcp/ppe-strategy/face-masks.html
(8) “Generally, when masks are worn, they increase the resistance of breathing resulting in increase in CO2 in the dead space of the mask. As a result, the wearer encounters increased work of breathing needing more effort, causing discomfort and fatigue… Limitations of this study include the children wore the mask for short durations of time, just about 5 minutes.” Includes “Exclusion Criteria” and acknowledgement of inferiority of surgical or cloth masks. “Although more comfortable, surgical masks (SM) and also medical masks (MM), tested in various studies have been shown to perform poorly as protection against airborne and particulate infection.” A randomized Clinical Trial to Evaluate the Safety, Fit, Comfort of novel N95 Mask in Children. https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-019-55451-w
(9) A German psychological study with about 1000 participants found “severe psychosocial consequences” due to the introduction of mandatory face masks. https://corona-transition.org/der-maskenzwang-ist-verantwortlich-fur-schwere-psychische-schaden-und-die
Considering the Psychological Impact of Mask/Extreme Measures on Children:
(3) https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0177239
Looking at Statistics IN CONTEXT (1):
Age group 5-14 = 19 COVID deaths vs. 2,498 deaths due to other causes
Age group 5-24 = 202 COVID deaths vs. 15,609 deaths due to other causes
Teacher Age Groups: “The average age of teachers in the US is 42 years old (2). In that age ranges (35-44), there have been 2,554 deaths due to COVID out of 45,974 total deaths due to other causes. Hence, adults in this age group are 18 times more likely to die of something other than COVID. In addition, the recent Nature publication on COVID risks assigned a Hazard Ratio of zero to this age group, meaning that being this old related to no additional risk for COVID death (3). In fact, being up to age 55 conferred no additional risk. Based on data from the National Center for Education Statistics, only 20% of school teachers are over age 55 (4). Hence, 80% of school teachers have no additional COVID-19 risk based on age” – Dr. Chris Centeno, M.D. (5)
(1) The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Provisional COVID-19 Death Counts by Sex, Age, and State. https://data.cdc.gov/widgets/9bhg-hcku Accessed 8/1/20
(2) National Center for Education Statistics. Schools and Staffing Survey. Table 2. Average and median age of public school teachers and percentage distribution of teachers, by age category, sex, and state: 2011–12. https://nces.ed.gov/surveys/sass/tables/sass1112_2013314_t1s_002.asp
(3) Williamson EJ, Walker AJ, Bhaskaran K, et al. OpenSAFELY: factors associated with COVID-19 death in 17 million patients [published online ahead of print, 2020 Jul 8]. Nature. 2020;10.1038/s41586-020-2521-4. doi:10.1038/s41586-020-2521-4
(4) National Center for Education Statistics. Schools and Staffing Survey. Table 3. Percentage distribution of school teachers by age category, average and median age of teachers, and percentage distribution of teachers, by sex, school type, and selected school characteristics: 2007–08. Table 3. Percentage distribution of school teachers by age category, average and median age of teachers, and percentage distribution of teachers, by sex, school type, and selected school characteristics: 2007–08
(5) https://covidfactfiction.com/back-to-school-or-stay-home-what-the-science-says/
Data supporting Mask pose Minimal Mitigation in Preventing Viral Infection:
(1) “As for the scientific support for the use of face masks, a recent careful examination of the literature, in which 17 of the best studies were analyzed, concluded that, “None of the studies established a conclusive relationship between mask/respirator use and protection…” https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/j.1750-2659.2011.00307.x
(2) “Even accepting the uncertain premise that masks are useful, "incorrect use and disposal may actually increase the risk of pathogen transmission, rather than reduce it, especially when masks are used by non-professionals such as the lay public." Given that most "masks" are simply kept handy for use when required, set aside, and then re-used, most mask-wearing by the public is likely to increase virus exposure, not reduce it.” https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/16295987/
(3) “Wearing facemasks to reduce the spread of COVID-19is not recommended for individuals in the community without respiratory symptoms…” https://www.fhi.no/globalassets/dokumenterfiler/rapporter/2020/should-individuals-in-the-community-without-respiratory-symptoms-wear-facemasks-to-reduce-the-spread-of-covid-19-report-2020.pdf
(4) A July 2020 review by the Oxford Centre for Evidence-Based Medicine found that there is no evidence for the effectiveness of cloth masks against virus infection or transmission. https://www.cebm.net/covid-19/masking-lack-of-evidence-with-politics/
(5) A July 2020 study by Japanese researchers found that cloth masks “offer zero protection against coronavirus” due to their large pore size and generally poor fit” http://www.asahi.com/ajw/articles/13523664
(6) “A randomized controlled trial comparing the ability of medical and cloth masks to prevent healthcare workers from contracting the flu found that those workers wearing cloth masks were 13 times more likely to get a respiratory viral infection than those wearing medical masks” MacIntyre CR, Seale H, Dung TC, et al. A cluster randomised trial of cloth masks compared with medical masks in healthcare workers.BMJ Open 2015 Apr 22;5(4):e006577
(7) “None of the studies established a conclusive relationship between mask/respirator use and protection against influenza infection” Bin-Reza F, Lopez Chavarrias V, Nicoll A, Chamberland ME. The use of masks and respirators to prevent transmission of influenza: a systematic review of the scientific evidence. Influenza Other Respir Viruses. 2012;6(4):257–267. doi:10.1111/j.1750-2659.2011.00307.x
(8) Aiello AE, Perez V, Coulborn RM, Davis BM, Uddin M, Monto AS. Facemasks, hand hygiene, and influenza among young adults: a randomized intervention trial. PLoS One. 2012;7(1):e29744. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0029744
(9) “Based on the quality of the surgical mask construction, surgical masks pass up to 80% of these particles through the front. That says nothing of the particles passing around the sides of the mask.” Chen CC, Willeke K. Aerosol penetration through surgical masks. Am J Infect Control. 1992;20(4):177‐184. doi:10.1016/s0196-6553(05)80143-9
(10)“The CDC … gave some scientific references, none of which were studies where mask use was actually tested. In fact, they all relate to the possibility of asymptomatic transmission of the SARS-CoV-2 virus, which later data has shown to be rare.”
a. CDC’s Information on Cloth Face Coverings: https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/prevent-getting-sick/diy-cloth-face-coverings.html
b. CDC Editorial in JAMA: Brooks JT, Butler JC, Redfield RR. Time for universal masking and prevention of transmission of SARS-CoV-2. JAMA. Published online July 14, 2020. doi:10.1001/jama.2020.13107 https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jama/fullarticle/10.1001/jama.2020.13107external icon
c. MMWR Article: No Transmission of Symptomatic SARS-CoV-2 After Significant Exposure With Universal Face Mask Use at a Hair Salon – Springfield, Missouri, May 2020 https://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/volumes/69/wr/mm6928e2.htm?s_cid=mm6928e2_w
(11)“Wearing an N-95 mask significantly reduced infections among healthcare workers but the surgical masks did nothing to reduce infections” Loeb M, McGeer A, Henry B, et al. SARS among critical care nurses, Toronto.Emerg Infect Dis 2004 Feb;10(2):251-5
(12)“Surgical masks are designed to protect patients from a surgeon’s respiratory droplets, aren’t effective at blocking particles smaller than 100 μm. “ https://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:VLXWeZBll7YJ:https://multimedia.3m.com/mws/media/957730O/respirators-and-surgical-masks-contrast-technical-bulletin.pdf+&cd=13&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=us
(13)“Penetration of cloth masks by particles was 97%...” https://bmjopen.bmj.com/content/5/4/e006577
(14)Scientific Levels of Evidence Medicine: “It is critical to note that only studies that meet level 1 or 2 on this chart get to use the term “proven”. In fact, real sticklers in the realm of evidence-based medicine would argue that only studies that meet level 1 can use that term. Everything else is “unproven”. Having said that, studies in level 3 would be pretty good evidence. Level 4 here would be “OK” evidence that could at least be passable to start a discussion. Level 5 and below is all interesting stuff and needed to start building an evidence base, but regrettably isn’t sufficient to prove that masks reduce the spread of COVID-19.” Reference Image Below:
https://covidfactfiction.com/mask-use-and-covid19-research-grading/
“As you can see, not a single study or case report used in the media as “proof” that mask use prevents the spread of COVID-19 rose to high-level or moderate level grades of clinical evidence.” See reference chart below:
“New research shows that the receptor used by the coronavirus to enter cells (ACE-2) is not as prevalent in the nasal passages of the young” Bunyavanich S, Do A, Vicencio A. Nasal Gene Expression of Angiotensin-Converting Enzyme 2 in Children and Adults [published online ahead of print, 2020 May 20]. JAMA. 2020;323(23):2427-2429. doi:10.1001/jama.2020.8707
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Petition created on August 21, 2020