OK I'm gonna tear that article apart. There's no way you read this, or you wouldn't have posted it. Wait...you would have. I'll stack all of the real studies (dozens) I posted above against this drivel horse **** posed as a real study. Learn below.
Let me break all of this down in layman's terms.
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1. It begins with the title.
"Evidence that Masks Prevent the Spread of Coronavirus."
The title leads one to believe "they are going to discuss masks and stopping the spread of COVID" yet they don't test masks AND COVID whatsoever. The two aren't linked in this epic work.
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2. They interviewed a pulmonologist. A respiratory specialist. Not an epidemiologist. You know, the medical professionals that specialize in viruses and viral spread. Now I'm not saying he can't and shouldn't have an opinion, but if I wanted to do a real study on a virus, I'd be interviewing a doctor of viruses...duh.
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3. The article then states the following, and exposes the first gaping hole in "the study."
WRONG. Lies by exclusion. The virus lives in "droplets" AND "aerosols." Proven. The whole damned epic article omits aerosols. Totally. And only focuses on droplets - you know, the visible snot and stuff you see when someone sneezes. It's
all they focus on.
The word "aerosol" isn't mentioned ANYWHERE in the article.
The droplets are easier to address. It's easy to prevent them spreading and they fall to the earth rapidly. Coughing into your hands prevents droplet spread.
Aerosols are the problem. They pass right through masks and they linger in the air for minutes. NOT addressing aerosols is a major pitfall of this "so called study." I can stop droplets with a handkerchief or a neck gaiter. Yet even a properly fitted N95 will allow some % of aerosols to pass through. The cloth masks and bullshit we all wear every day are a sieve for aerosols and only stop up to 3% of aerosols.
This "article" intentionally omits aerosols...the real reason we saw cases growing after mask mandates. Eliminates the article for any consideration at all right there...full stop.
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4. The pulmonologist then says:
"“The spread of the virus really goes down in areas where people wear masks and it goes as down as four-to-five times reduced risk of infection when people in the community are wearing a mask than when they’re not wearing a mask,” says Dr. Dweik." Yeah, show us where. I personally have posted dozens upon dozens of images from around the globe where cases went UP after the mask mandates, often drastically.
Where Doc? Interesting that this "study" doesn't point to a single locale where this happened. Not one. Nope, instead because a pulmonologist said it, it must be true riggghhht? Where? Show me. Because every other before and after analysis of any locale around the world shows no impact or virus spread increasing drastically.
@21: I'm calling you out on this: Point me to any locale where it can be shown with data and evidence that cases dropped 4x to 5x after mask wearing. I'll wait.
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5. Now to the "study." I put it in quotes because it is not a study of masks and COVID. What they "studied" is how effective different types of masks were at preventing "DROPLETS" from spreading. Again...aerosols weren't even tested.
How effective at what???
Let's find out! It's stunning....
Wow. You know what this sounds like? The kid next to me at the science fair in high school.
"I bet if I put a screen up over an open window fewer bugs will come into my house. Where's my poster board and crayon?"
They even reference how "cheap" this study was (mind you this was Duke ******* university that pulled this stunt folks, plenty of money there):
Then this earth shattering science fair project ended with a recommendation of the
"most effective masks and stopping the spread of droplets."
Did they put different types of masks on people, send them into controlled settings, and see over weeks who caught COVID or who didn't? Nope.
Did they look at the data, county by county, across the country where masks were mandated and others weren't? Nope.
Did they test which masks can prevent aerosol spread? Nope.
No sir,
this science fair project used "cheap" equipment and measured which pieces of cloth stopped "droplets", a mere portion of the means by which COVID is spread.
Due respect 21, and you may thinking I'm joking, but I HAVE seen more "science" at a high school science fair than this pile of steaming **** they call science.
The entire thing is a farce from the title (infers it tests masks and COVID and does not), to the basis of the study (doesn't even CONSIDER aerosols) to the doctor's bogus claims (cases went down 4-5X) to the study itself (a cheap camera measuring droplet spread).
The kids featured in October Sky won a science fair using 50x more "science" than exists in this Duke study, which is anything but.
It