Return of the mask maniacs
ROGER WATSON
REALLY, it was only a matter of time, wasn’t it?
Representatives of the Monster Raving Mask Wearing Party are back at it. Fanatics at the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) are urging the public to wear face masks again in view of the forthcoming flu season which, like all the ones that have gone before it, is going to be the worst ever. Some hospitals are already conforming and instructing their staff and patients to wear masks.
Somebody somewhere must be rubbing their hands with glee. Masks make money. Prior to covid, global sales of face masks were worth $1.4billion. In 2020 they rose by over two orders of magnitude to $224billion. Thereafter, they have declined steadily but remained at $4.2billion in 2024, which shows that, to some extent, face mask addiction has persisted. This is four times the level of sales pre-covid.
Presumably, when covid came on the scene, the mask manufacturers saw their opportunity and went for it. The manufactured panic led to the UK government purchasing £150million worth of face masks which turned out to be unusable. The mask manufacturers prioritised profits over the purported safety of the public.
I say ‘purported’ because, even at the start of the covid event, there was no evidence that face masks prevent the spread of respiratory infections. Their modern use arose in the Far East and gained prominence during the outbreak of SARS in Hong Kong in 2003. Even then there was little evidence to support their use but became more like a habit ‘more akin to putting on a jacket for cold weather’ in the region.
For those of us who have always been doubtful about the value of face masks, covid at least provided a golden opportunity to see if any beneficial effect could be demonstrated. As we suspected, there was no demonstrable benefit to wearing face masks. They were nothing short of an expensive and inconvenient con. Moreover, their prolonged use was associated with demonstrable harms such as decreased cognition and increased reaction time. Their enforced wearing by young children, in whom they affected language and emotional development, was nothing short of child abuse.
Yet the mask maniacs persist and try every trick to convince us that face masks have some benefit. At the forefront of this campaign of misinformation has been Professor Trish Greenhalgh of Oxford University, who criticised the key Cochrane study demolishing the evidence in favour of face masks as being ‘controversial’ in its use of gold standard evidence in the form of randomised controlled trials (RCTs).
Once at the forefront of the evidence-based movement herself and no stranger to the pages of the Cochrane Library, Greenhalgh and colleagues published a study incorporating lower and less reliable evidence to arrive at the predestined conclusion that face masks were effective. However, the study by Greenhalgh and colleagues is easily demolished.
Others at the forefront of mask mania, rather like Greenhalgh, maintain that RCTs are not the best way to test whether face masks work. Furthermore, RCTs that do not demonstrate face mask effectiveness should simply be ignored. Mask maniacs set out, unscientifically, to prove that face masks are effective and, in assessing the evidence, they see only what they want to see.
Other covid virtue signallers are incorrigible. They are unconcerned about the evidence in favour of face mask effectiveness and reckon, as does Professor Debra Jackson, Editor-in-Chief of the Journal of Advanced Nursing, that wearing a face mask ‘is symbolic of a collective concern for others who are more vulnerable’. The train of thought that leads to that conclusion is almost beyond comprehension.
I recently reported that I had come across a concept called Hudson’s Razor, the brainchild of Trevor E Hudson. His razor posits that anything is a confidence trick which is:
(1) presented as a global crisis;
(2) permits only global solutions; and requires
(3) suppression of dissent.
The above summed up the covid years perfectly. Regarding face masks, we are close to having this presented as a global crisis, and global solutions (i.e. vaccinations and face masks) are being pushed once more. Look out for the suppression of dissent: it is almost inevitable.
This article (Return of the mask maniacs) was created and published by Conservative Woman and is republished here under “Fair Use” with attribution to the author Roger Watson
See Related Article Below
Public Urged to Wear Face Masks Amid Flu Season “Like the Covid Period”
It’s more than five years since the Covid lockdowns, but it seems the powers that be haven’t forgotten how much they enjoyed telling us all what to do in the name of public health. As we enter flu season, boffins at the UK Health Security Agency are again urging the public to don face masks “when unwell”. Are lockdowns next? The Telegraph has more.
Face masks should be worn in public by anyone feeling ill during a surge in flu cases, health officials have said.
Experts at the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) have urged people to “consider wearing a mask” if they have symptoms.
Some NHS hospitals have also told patients with flu-like symptoms to stay away altogether to help limit the spread.
A “tidal wave” of flu has already left 10 times as many patients in hospital compared with this time two years ago.
The public health body said “face coverings continue to be a useful tool in limiting the spread of respiratory viruses in some situations”.
“Wearing a well-fitting mask when unwell can reduce the number of particles containing viruses that are released from the mouth and nose of someone who is infected with a respiratory infection,” officials said.
Dr Jamie Lopez Bernal, consultant epidemiologist at the UKHSA, said: “We expect to see these viruses circulating more widely in the lead-up to Christmas and more people getting sick – threatening a potential peak over the festive period and into the New Year.”
Giving advice on how to “flu-proof your festivities”, Dr Bernal added: “Wash your hands regularly, keep indoor spaces well-ventilated and if you need to go out while unwell, consider wearing a face mask.”
Mandatory face masks were dropped in 2022 from official guidance after the pandemic with individual NHS trusts now able to decide if and when they should be used depending on local infections and pressure on hospitals.
Flu cases have surged to a record high, with the elderly expected to be hardest hit over Christmas.
Those people eligible for flu jabs have been urged to come forward as soon as possible.
Dr Bernal said: “Now is your last chance if eligible to help get protected before Christmas.”
The rates of patients aged over 85 in hospital have doubled in the past week, and figures show an average of 1,717 patients were admitted to a hospital bed every day last week because of flu – the highest on record for this time of year.
[…]Sir Jim Mackey, the chief of NHS England, warned that the health service was facing pressures that “in a lot of ways will be like the Covid period”.
He said it was “reasonable to assume” flu patients would take up between 5,000 and 8,000 hospital beds each day by next week, far higher than the previous peak last January of 5,408.
Worth reading in full.
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