Masks

From DaGoddess:

There are several problems with that piece. First and foremost: of the 42 studies, only 9 were listed as being current (all 2020 during the early months of Covid, not allowing for wide use of masks during those periods, and the fact that many people were wearing masks improperly or using masks of poor quality, ie: neck gaiters, single or double layer cotton masks as opposed to three layer masks of better quality material and/or frequent changing/disposing/laundering of masks). Second: without a critical medical eye, it’s easy to point to a part of any study and say “here’s where it says they’re not effective” when, in fact, the actual statement indicates reduced effectiveness BUT STILL EFFECTIVE. Third: there’s political bias against masks evident on the website. And that’s okay for someone looking to justify a particular stance. It is not, however, helpful with presenting accurate medically based information.

More recent studies around the world have shown masks are highly effective in reducing your risk of exposure because we’ve become better at wearing masks properly, wearing masks of better/more effective material, and we change or launder our masks more frequently. We’ve also become better about basic hygiene and distancing.

But back to masks. Current — *recent* — studies reinforce the benefits of masking. One study (January 26, 2021), as excerpted below, says:

*A Cochrane review (15) on physical interventions to interrupt or reduce the spread of respiratory viruses included 67 RCTs and observational studies. It found that “overall masks were the best performing intervention across populations, settings and threats.” There is a similar preprint review by the same lead author (16), in which only studies where mask wearing was tested as a stand-alone intervention were included, without combining it with hand hygiene and physical distancing, and excluding observational studies. That review concluded that “there was insufficient evidence to provide a recommendation on the use of facial barriers without other measures.” MacIntyre and Chughtai (17) published a review evaluating masks as protective intervention for the community, protection for health workers, and as source control. The authors conclude that “community mask use by well people could be beneficial, particularly for COVID-19, where transmission may be pre-symptomatic. The studies of masks as source control also suggest a benefit, and may be important during the COVID-19 pandemic in universal community face mask use as well as in health care settings.”*

https://www.pnas.org/content/118/4/e2014564118

As I stated on my blog, it’s important to get information from sources having no political bias. Medical research, healthcare systems, WHO, CDC all work for the benefit of public/community health and safety. Their reports, whether we agree with them or not (I don’t always agree with some of their recommendations — particularly when it comes to opioid use in chronic pain management [though they have amended recs recently]), are based on medical and scientific research and FACTS, which should take priority over everything else.

Our survival of this pandemic is dependent upon all of us. Sure, some is better than none, but large-scale compliance with recs will ensure we get through this faster, with fewer fatalities, with fewer lifelong consequences for survivors (hopefully, though nature dictates that more than anything), and have a better chance at reducing further surges of the virus.

What’s hard for many to understand is that the longer we fight amongst ourselves about mandates and overreach and the politics of disease control, the harder it becomes to actually fight the disease itself. We have the power to bitch slap the hell out of Covid, but it requires all of us to act as a unified and determined entity to ensure we’re effective.

My friends in Australia are back attending theatre and other live events (albeit at reduced capacity and with masks), gathering with family and friends (mostly masked, but still together!), and living almost normal lives now while we’re still trying to figure out what we can do to achieve similar results. The answer to that is to follow their lead, implement their strategies, and to take an active role in preventing wider exposure. It’s a major battle, but one we can win if we set aside our political and/or philosophical differences. This is not, nor should it ever be a political battle; it’s straight up a humanitarian issue. We must fight together if we ever hope to run this damn virus into oblivion.

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