Last week an article in City Journal wrote about a “scoping review” of the physical harms of masks. It is time for a bit of debunking. A note to the tl:dr – the too long, didn't read among us, it takes more words to correct a mistruth than to propagate one.
masks
Does masking reduce the transmission of SARS-CoV-2? The Cochrane Collaboration tried to analyze the messy evidence and re-ignited an incendiary political debate. What conclusion should we draw from their findings? There's lots of misinformation out there; there's also rampant misinformation about misinformation. Don't be fooled by either of them.
The ability of masks, especially high-quality ones, to prevent the transmission of respiratory infections, including COVID-19, is incontrovertible, but some commentators have come unglued on the subject.
There are plenty of reasons for skepticism about medical studies. Some are poorly designed or performed, and some conclusions are totally implausible. In addition, some interpretations of them are intentionally misleading, and some studies need not have been done at all.
The debate over when to lift mask mandates continues. The CDC extended mask guidance on airplanes, among other forms of mass transit, for an additional two weeks. The war over masks in elementary school continues to be waged. A new model attempts to provide more data on the interaction of the three horsemen of non-pharmaceutical intervention, face masks, room ventilation, and distance in short and long-range airborne transmission.
Reconsidering zoos, the most famous of monkeys, the symbolism of masks and a goldfish drives their aquarium.
As Omicron continues to infect its way across America, let us not forget its viral companion: influenza. How is that working out?
Instagram recently censored the Cochrane Collaboration, a highly respected nonprofit group made up of medical experts, for allegedly sharing "false content" about COVID-19. This is an inevitable consequence of the growing push for social media censorship.
What went wrong during the COVID-19 pandemic? A team of public health researchers recently outlined some of the crucial policy mistakes we made and explained how we might avoid them in the future.
Over the last year, the number of immune individuals necessary to achieve herd immunity has risen from 70% to 90%. Is it even possible to achieve herd immunity? Every other disease has herd immunity; why not COVID-19? And another problem, why is COVID-19 different from its siblings SARS or MERS?
The media likes to compare COVID-19 outcomes in different states based on carefully selected metrics. A closer look indicates that these match-ups are less compelling than reporters think. This has consequences for the public's trust in science.
Scientific American says there's good evidence to support mandatory masking in schools. A careful look at the data suggest the situation is more complicated.