Mainstream media and Hollywood celebrities, the public relations teams of left-wing politicians, have done an outstanding job dividing Americans. Those who follow their opinions and buy into their dogma become part of the cool club. They look down upon other citizens who ask questions, demand scientific evidence, or who present alternative solutions to the latest “threat” or “crisis.”



No doubt, they’ll ride the COVID Crisis Train as long as its renewable energy, solar powered, zero-emission, battery powered engine lasts.



The dividing line in this war against the COVID virus isn’t between our immune systems and the virus. They’ve defined the lines between those who obediently get the vaccine and those who don’t, and those mask up their families, and those who don’t.



A new study, completed through the University of Louisville, shows what many critical thinkers already knew: Mass masking doesn’t slow the spread of COVID.



Even with this scientific evidence (and other studies like it), most masker-ragers won’t change their mind about masking up. They’ll probably dig their heels in further.



Nonetheless, I felt it was important to share this information for those with open minds. The study I’m referring to in this blog post is Mask mandate and use efficacy for COVID-19 containment in US States, published in the International Research Journal of Public Health.





Research Study: Mass Masking Does Not Slow the Spread of COVID



I'll start with the punchline:




We did not observe association between mask mandates or use and reduced COVID-19 spread in US states.
Guerra DD et al.



Guerra and team analyzed mask usage and COVID cases from mid-2020 through March, 2021. They used data “from Premise, the Facebook Global Symptom Survey [University of Maryland], the Kaiser Family Foundation, and the YouGov Behavior Tracker Survey.” 



The researchers categorized mask compliance into quintiles, or five levels of compliance.



According to their data,




Our main finding is that mask mandates and use likely did not affect COVID-19 case growth. Mask mandates were associated with greater mask use but ultimately did not influence total normalized cases or post-mandate case growth.
Guerra DD et al.



Mask mandates increased mask usage, but the increased mask usage did not change the spread of COVID-19.



Am I surprised? Not at all. I do feel a bit of sadness though, as many of those who buy into Mainstream Media’s narrative would ignore such facts, and continue to spew disdain and hatred towards those who choose to ignore demands to mask up.



There’s more to this published paper, though.



Mass Masking Collateral Damage



I wrote about the collateral damage so many anti-science masker-ragers choose to ignore in my blog post Masks and Face Coverings: Who’s considering the collateral damage?



Guerra and team reinforce my concerns.




As masks have been required in many settings, it is prudent to weigh potential benefits with harms. Masks may promote social cohesion during a pandemic, but risk compensation can also occur. By obscuring nonverbal communication, masks interfere with social learning in children. Likewise, masks can distort verbal speech and remove visual cues to the detriment of individuals with hearing loss; clear face-shields improve visual integration, but there is a corresponding loss of sound quality. Prolonged mask use [>4 hours per day] promotes facial alkalinization and inadvertently encourages dehydration, which in turn can enhance barrier breakdown and bacterial infection risk. British clinicians have reported masks to increase headaches and sweating and decrease cognitive precision.
Guerra DD et al.



The most disturbing in all of this is the impact masks may have on kids. Children are not miniature adults. They’re developing human beings, still learning how to communicate and work with other kids, read people’s nonverbal cues, and most importantly,