Maggie's Farm

As some may know - and others may verify from my rare previous replies to Z - I generally find him to be an obnoxious, arrogant little leftist twit.

However, his verbatim copy from the "study's" conclusion is cogent and correct:

“The high risk of bias in the trials, variation in outcome measurement, and relatively low adherence with the interventions during the studies hampers drawing firm conclusions.”

This sums up the problem with the Cochrane "study", which really didn't study masks, but rather looked at the studies that did study masks and the main point, if we can take one from Cochrane, is that in general, the studies were so poorly controlled that we can't make a conclusion one way or the other.

If anything, we might conclude that mask mandates don't work because, lacking the volition to wear a mask properly, people won't wear masks properly and the mask won't be effective....except perhaps for virtue signaling.

But, the PRO-MASK people will still insist that mask work and the ANTI-MASK people will insist they don't rather than addressing the more important issue of whether nor not government should mandate masks, vaccines, etc. For many reason, not the least of which include personal freedom and the recognition that government experts (central planners) are almost always wrong, I strongly oppose such mandates.

Sic Semper Tyrannis

Can we agree that perhaps the one thing the Cochrane analysis indicates is that mask MANDATES don't work?

This could either result from masks themselves being ineffective or that people - especially if they are coerced rather than truly desiring to wear the mask - either don't comply or don't wear the mask properly.

I think we have all seen people - including Mr Fauxi - wearing a mask below the nose.

Aside: From personal experience at several hospitals (COVID wards), masks did appear to offer some (incomplete) protection for hospital personnel who were motivated to wear them properly. I recognize this is anecdotal and I'm sure someone will attack with the flame throwers, but consider if you are having open heart surgery - do you want your surgeon to not wear a mask, or gloves?

Saying "masks don't work" is an ignorant statement unless we clarify "what type of mask", "worn by whom", "for what disease vector", "worn in what manner", "to prevent transmission or contraction of the illness".

1. I am making no claims about the efficacy of masks either to prevent the wearer from transmitting the illness or contracting the illness. I am only commenting on the reliability of yet another set of "experts".
2. Cochrane is by no means a "gold standard" in evaluating medical interventions. It is a group of self-described "experts" who may or may not have some level of training in statistical analysis, but rarely have any training or experience in the field pertaining to the papers they analyze.
3. As a result of #1, while they may be able to make claims regarding statistics, if the methods and assumptions of the study are flawed, it is beyond their level of expertise to detect that. For example: If a study says masks don't work, but the study itself depends on self-reporting by mass users - who may have worn masks incorrectly or been embarrassed to report their lack of use - the statistical gurus won't pick this up.
3. #6 (Ccoffer) hinted at the problem with most studies covered by Cochrane: "...if you can't breathe thru it..." Think about it: If it's difficult or annoying to breathe thru and wear, people don't wear it or wear it properly. What the "studies" should really conclude is that mask mandates don't work because people won't wear them properly if coerced to do so by government. What would be useful is to study the efficacy of masks if voluntarily worn. Not saying they would, but this would tell us about the mask rather than telling us what we already knew about human behavior that's coerced.

For those who champion Cochrane, please recognize that it is the British precursor of Obama's so-called "death panels". It was intended to be used for medical economics to justify the British socialized medical system not paying for certain medical interventions that might be deemed not cost effective.

So, be careful who you climb in bed with!