Wear Mask, Get Virus

Soldier in gas mask: Are you ok, sir?
Roy Neary: Yeah, I'm fine. And the only gas around here is from you guys farting around!
--Close Encounters of the Third Kind

Study recently posted on CDC site reports that masks are not effective at preventing positive CV19 cases, even among those who consistently wear masks. The July study conducted in the US compared the reported habits of 154 patients who tested positive for CV19 to a control group of 160 non CV19 patients from the same health care facility.

Over 70% of the case patients tested positive despite reporting that they 'always' wore a mask in public. About the same percentage of control patients also reports that they always wore a mask in public.

An additional 14% of CV19 positive patients reported that they 'often' wore a mask in public, implying that about 85% of positive case patients wore masks all or most of the time.

Only 4% of the case positive patients reported that they 'never' wore a mask. As shown in the table above, the p-value associated with the difference in reported face mask use between CV positive patients and control group is insignificant (p = 0.86).

Relatively small sample at a single facility to be sure, but another brick in the wall of evidence against mask efficacy.

Unfortunately, most who favor superstition over science certainly will.