From monday both Morrisons and Sainsbury's Supermarket chains will not allow entry to shoppers who are not wearing Face Masks.
As the nation has been well and truly indoctrinated into thinking face masks will stop the pandemic, this move will likely come with a cheer from the majority of the population. After all, you can't have people just walking around without covering up their face, how irresponsible!
Nevermind that there is still no clear evidence that suggests Face Masks can have a positive effect when used by the general population, nevermind that there is overwhelming evidence to suggest when they are used by the general population they can possibly have a detrimental effect - let's just ignore these two points.
I've gone through it before, but let us just remind ourselves of some of the evidence which goes against the mask mandates.
“Researchers in Denmark reported on Wednesday that surgical masks did not protect the wearers against infection with the coronavirus in a large randomized clinical trial,” - New York Times[1]
The study[2] concluded that:
The recommendation to wear surgical masks to supplement other public health measures did not reduce the SARS-CoV-2 infection rate among wearers by more than 50% in a community with modest infection rates, some degree of social distancing, and uncommon general mask use. The data were compatible with lesser degrees of self-protection. - ACP Journals[2]
Before I go on I should say that most studies prior to the pandemic which all, every single last one of them concluded that face coverings do not assist in stopping the spread, have come under attack, some have been removed, some have had to add an editorial note telling you that you should wear one anyway.
But their studies are no less valid, they just got bullied into submission.
A study in the BMJ found that:
Moisture retention, reuse of cloth masks and poor filtration may result in increased risk of infection. - BMJ Open[3]
Even the World Health Organisation stated:
'....there is currently no evidence that wearing a mask (whether medical or other types) by healthy persons in the wider community setting, including universal community masking, can prevent them from infection with respiratory viruses, including COVID-19.' - WHO[4]
A review on all available studies published on medrxiv.org[5] still awaiting peer-review since April of last year found that:
Compared to no masks there was no reduction of influenza-like illness (ILI) cases (Risk Ratio 0.93, 95%CI 0.83 to 1.05) or influenza (Risk Ratio 0.84, 95%CI 0.61-1.17) for masks in the general population, nor in healthcare workers - medrxiv.org[5]
Interestingly, this study published in th World Journal of Surgery in 1991 found that:
The use of a surgical face mask has not been shown to decrease the postoperative infection rate; conversely, some authors have reported a 50% reduction by omitting its use. - link.springer.com[6]
Some studies suggest wearing a mask could increase the risk of self-contamination, such as this one:
Respiratory pathogens on the outer surface of the used medical masks may result in self-contamination. - Pubmed.gov[7]
There are dozens more just like these, but you get my point. Now here is the thing, if wearing a mask makes you feel safe, if you feel protected than please wear one, I really don't care.
But since there is no evidence to support any benefit when used in the general population, with some evidence to support it could make matters worse, can you please quit your snide remarks and uneducated accusations of selfishness at those who chose not to wear them.
We all do what we feel is the right thing to do, most people do not want to harm others, most people want only the best for their fellow human brothers and sisters.
- nytimes.com
- acpjournals.org
- bmjopen.bmj.com
- who.int
- medrxiv.org
- springer.com
- pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
Originally published on our website over at OYE NEWS : https://oye.news/news/pandemic/uk-supermarkets-morrisons-and-sainsburys-ban-maskless-shoppers/