In a recent interview with Michael Smerconish, Dr. Anthony Fauci, one of the lead figures in America\u2019s COVID-19 response, expressed a viewpoint on masks that raises questions about the empirical underpinning of his advice.<\/p>\n
Fauci admitted that while masks are not a perfect solution, they do provide some degree of benefit. However, when pressed further on the conflicting results from various studies, including the widely cited Cochrane study, Fauci\u2019s assurance crumbles.<\/p>\n
The Cochrane review<\/a>, led by Oxford epidemiologist Tom Jefferson, found just no evidence that masks make any difference in reducing the spread of respiratory illness, including COVID-19.<\/p>\n From the study:<\/p>\n There is uncertainty about the effects of face masks. The low to moderate certainty of evidence means our confidence in the effect estimate is limited, and that the true effect may be different from the observed estimate of the effect.\u00a0The pooled results of RCTs did not show a clear reduction in respiratory viral infection with the use of medical\/surgical masks. There were no clear differences between the use of medical\/surgical masks compared with N95\/P2 respirators in healthcare workers when used in routine care to reduce respiratory viral infection.<\/strong>\u00a0Hand hygiene is likely to modestly reduce the burden of respiratory illness, and although this effect was also present when ILI and laboratory\u2010confirmed influenza were analysed separately, it was not found to be a significant difference for the latter two outcomes. Harms associated with physical interventions were under\u2010investigated.<\/p>\n This raises the question: If one of the most rigorous and comprehensive analyses on mask efficacy doesn\u2019t support their use, why are public health officials like Fauci still urging us to wear them?<\/p>\n Here\u2019s a brief history of mask recommendations given by Fauci and the CDC before:<\/p>\n March 8, 2020 \u2014<\/strong>\u00a0Dr. Anthony Fauci\u00a0advised<\/a>\u00a0healthy Americans\u00a0against wearing face masks<\/a>. In an email dated February 2020, Dr. Fauci advised a woman not to wear a face mask because they don\u2019t protect against the virus<\/a>.<\/p>\n \u201cMasks are really for infected people to prevent them from spreading infection to people who are not infected rather than protecting uninfected people from acquiring infection. The typical mask you buy in the drug store is not really effective in keeping out virus, which is small enough to pass through material. It might, however, provide some slight benefit in keep out gross droplets if someone coughs or sneezes on you,\u201d Fauci wrote. \u201cI do not recommend that you wear a mask, particularly since you are going to a very low risk location. Your instincts are correct, money is best spent on medical countermeasures such as diagnostics and vaccines.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI do not recommend that you wear a mask\u201d pic.twitter.com\/6X0bueGcIB<\/a><\/p>\n \u2014 zerohedge (@zerohedge) June 2, 2021<\/a><\/p>\n\n During the interview, Dr. Fauci acknowledged that, when it comes to the effect of masks at a population level, \u201cthe data are less strong.\u201d Yet, he immediately shifted the conversation to the benefits on an \u201cindividual basis.\u201d This conveniently sidesteps the issue that policy recommendations are not made for isolated individuals but for the broader population.<\/p>\n \u201cYeah, but there are other studies, Michael, that show at an individual level, for individual, when you\u2019re talking about the effect on the epidemic or the pandemic as a whole, the data are less strong,\u201d said Fauci.<\/p>\n Dr. Fauci argues that the conversation should be focused on an individual\u2019s effect on their own safety, as opposed to the broad population level. But is this not a false dichotomy? After all, isn\u2019t the point of a public health recommendation to achieve a certain level of protection on a community or population scale?<\/p>\n \u201cWhen you talk about as an individual basis of someone protecting themselves or protecting themselves from spreading it to others, there\u2019s no doubt that there are many studies that show that there is an advantage. When you look at the broad population level, like the Cochrane study, the data are less firm with regard to the effect on the overall pandemic. But we\u2019re not talking about that. We\u2019re talking about an individual\u2019s effect on their own safety. That\u2019s a bit different than the broad population level,\u201d said Fauci.<\/p>\n CNN asks Fauci why the highest quality scientific evidence consistently shows that masks do not work?<\/p>\n \u201cThe most rigorous and comprehensive analysis of scientific studies conducted on the efficacy of masks for reducing the spread of respiratory illnesses \u2014 including Covid-19 \u2014\u2026 pic.twitter.com\/GUdGak0AZh<\/a><\/p>\n \u2014 KanekoaTheGreat (@KanekoaTheGreat) September 3, 2023<\/a><\/p>\n\n The post Fauci Admits to Lack of COVID Mask Evidence at Population Level But Still Pushes to Wear Them Anyway (VIDEO)<\/a> appeared first on The Gateway Pundit<\/a>.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" In a recent interview with Michael Smerconish, Dr. Anthony Fauci, one of the lead figures in America\u2019s COVID-19<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"nf_dc_page":"","om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-17323","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"\n
\nApril 2020 \u2014<\/strong>\u00a0The CDC said Americans\u00a0should be wearing face masks<\/a>\u00a0for the COVID.
\nMay 2020 \u2014 <\/strong>Dr. Anthony Fauci and the New England Journal of Medicine have admitted that\u00a0masks are little more than symbols<\/a>. Virtue signaling.
\nJanuary 25, 2021 \u2014 <\/strong>Dr. Fauci told healthy Americans to\u00a0wear two masks<\/a>\u00a0instead of one.
\nJanuary 31, 2021 \u2014<\/strong>\u00a0Dr. Fauci backtracked on that insane idea of wearing multiple masks.
\nFebruary 10, 2021<\/strong> \u2013 The CDC claimed<\/a> two masks are better than one.
\nJuly 13, 2021<\/strong> \u2013 Fauci said<\/a> two-year-olds should mask up: \u201cno doubt about that\u201d
\nAnd many more instances<\/p>\nWATCH:<\/strong><\/h5>\n