I don't understand people downvoting without correcting. This way this wrong information stands here, seemingly scientifically sound as a study is linked, contradicted only by votes and words.

Thank you @SigloPseudoMundo@lemmy.ml for looking at the study and noting its limits here.

If somebody wants to check for himself I suggest to take a look at https://www.futuremedicine.com/doi/full/10.2217/fvl-2021-0032 A study which looks at many different studies and metastudies.

To summarize:

Some studies exist that measured no benefits of masks under certain circumstances. E.g. only evaluating complete protection. But few also seem to be sound at first glance. E.g. one looking at effects of a mask requirement in Bexar County, TX.
Many of the negative result studies focus on cloth face masks, one even suggesting they increase risk.
Many studies and metastudies with generally more sound methods suggest mask are effective at preventing spread and limiting mortality.

Conclusion: Masks, excluding simple cloth masks, are likely quite effective. More research is needed.

[–] Chipthemonk@lemm.ee -4 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Your conclusion, in respect to the highly detailed Cochrane review, is extremely wrong. I don’t know how people like you come up with this logic. It’s bizarre. Cloth masks have been proven to be in effective time and time again and you keep promoting them. It’s ridiculous.

It’s not seemingly scientific, the study I linked is the best study we have and it came up with “masks don’t seem to help for reducing the spread of respiratory viruses.” Yet you spew the same bullshit we had at the beginning of the pandemic that wasn’t researched.

Luckily I live in a place where it will be highly unlikely for some ridiculous mandate. Hopefully you live in a place that will mandate this shit for the rest of your life so you can live in the dystopia you want to live in. Leave the rest of us alone.

[–] Macros@feddit.de 7 points 1 year ago (1 children)

It seems you have not read my post or the study in detail.

Indeed it seems that cloth masks are not very or even not effective. But, and that's a big but: FFP2/KN95 Masks seem to be quite effective.

The Cochrane study authors themselves note the low confidence they have in their results. The sample size is quite small (e.g. only 8407 people in summary over all studies they evaluated for FFP2 masks) They even got the result that handwashing has no benefits.

In Contrast the studies in the metastudy I linked work with far larger sample sizes.

I won't respond anymore after this comment as you seem agitated and resort to personal attacks which won't lead to a productive discussion. I hope you find a calmer moment to consider the evidence studies have gathered and overthink your position.

[–] Piers@beehaw.org 1 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Largely what the Cochrane report appears to say is that these studies aren't actually suitable to draw firm conclusions from (which is what all the talk of "evidence" are about. They mean that the studies they read don't have sufficient evidence to support their own claims and that while Cochrane can therefore tell us "study X had conclusion Y" they and we shouldn't assume that's actually correct as "study X" wasn't actually very good.)

[–] Chipthemonk@lemm.ee 0 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

My whole point is that the scientific consensus on whether masks make a difference at the population level for respiratory illnesses is inconclusive. So why should governments continue mandating them? “Just to be safe” is not a sound argument, especially when the intervention is so drastic against the human condition.

I love showing my face and seeing other people’s’ faces. It angers me that so many people don’t care about faces. I find these folk to be expressively anti-human and it angers me. Masks limit human expression. They dull human life.