"You have no right not to be vaccinated, you have no right not to wear a mask... If you refuse to be vaccinated the state has the right to take you to a doctors office and plunge a needle in your arm.”
Harvard Law Professor Alan Dershowitz May 17 2020
I did not cover the mask issue in my book Common Sense versus Corona Virus Hysteria, which I published on May 8, 2020, because I was hoping that the mask issue would simply go away as corona virus fatalities began to drop. Sadly, instead of the mask issue going away, on June 12, 2020, the Washington State Superintendent of Public Instruction announced that cloth masks would be required in all school in Washington state when they starts in September – regardless of whether there is any risk of corona virus anywhere in the school district.
This is despite the fact that not a single child in Washington state has been documented to transmit the corona virus to a single adult. Children are more likely to die from being hit by lightening while waiting for the school bus than they are from being infected by the corona virus while they are at school.
Even adults face almost no danger from the corona virus. As just one example, through May 2020, the corona virus did not cause any increase in fatalities during any week of 2020 compared to the same week in 2018 or 2019.
Thus, the risk to adults is so low that it cannot be measured. But the risk to children is even less.
There have been no fatalities due to the corona virus to any child under the age of 20 anywhere in Washington state:
There were more Flu type A hospitalizations in January for under age 19 than there were corona admissions in March:
Thus, the notion of requiring masks in public schools could be one of the most insane regulations ever issued. In complete disregard for these facts, on June 12, 2020, Washington State Superintendent of Public Instruction Chris Reykdal released a 58 page set of new draconian regulations called Reopening Washington Schools 2020 – District Planning Guide. Here is a link to this document: https://www.k12.wa.us/sites/default/files/public/workgroups/Reopening%20Washington%20Schools%202020%20Planning%20Guide.pdf
Here is a quote from page 17 of this report: “All students, staff, volunteers, and guests must wear cloth face coverings in K-12 settings.”
As a scientist who has studied this issue at great length, I have to say that this new mandatory face mask wearing requirement borders on insanity. The scientific research on the effectiveness of cotton masks is very clear: Cotton masks do not stop or even slow down the corona virus.
It will not take me long to explain why. So please hear me out. This is a very simple matter. On April 19, 2020, Dr. John Lee published an article in the Spectator in which he summarized the research on face masks. Here is a link to this article: https://www.spectator.co.uk/article/face-masks-should-there-be-a-cover-up-
Dr. Lee began by pointing out that a flu virus like the corona virus is about 1000 times smaller than the width of a human hair. He then referred to a study of the pore sizes of 20 different cotton masks versus N-95 surgical masks. Here is a link to the study: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/31289698
The researchers found that all of the cotton masks had pore sizes that were bigger than the width of a human hair – and got even bigger after washing. This means that the width of the holes in every cotton mask are 1000 times bigger than the size of the corona virus. Imagine trying to catch a fish with a net where the holes were 1000 times bigger than the fish you were trying to catch. - Do you see that you will not catch a single fish with such a useless net?
For those who are more visually oriented, I have created the following diagram to show how much bigger each hole in a cotton mask is in comparison to the size of the corona virus. The corona virus is the solid dark dot in the center of the light diagram. The entire outer box of the diagram represents a single pore or hole in a cotton mask:
Even N-95 surgical masks have pore sizes that are three times bigger than viruses. Again, not going to catch many virus fish. So what is the point of N-95 or surgical masks? The answer is that surgical masks might stop bacteria – which are ten times bigger than viruses. The reason I say “might” is because there has been a debate raging about this issue for more than 20 years. But remember, the debate is about N95 and/or surgical masks stopping relatively large bacteria. There is no debate about whether or not tiny viruses can make it through cotton masks – because they obviously can, will and do.
To be clear, there are three kinds of common masks with N95 being the best, surgical masks coming in second and cloth masks not having any value at all. Here are images of all three:
Another study using live viruses transmitted by a simulated sneeze found that surgical masks (not cotton masks), cut down on the virus transmission rate in a human volunteer by a factor of 2. https://www.hse.gov.uk/research/rrpdf/rr619.pdf
Even this reduction using surgical masks was meaningless because each time an infected person breaths out, they exhale about 10 million viruses (see my book at Common Sense Book dot org for more research on this). Even this minor effectiveness of surgical masks assumes that the surgical masks are well fitted and that there is no way for the viruses to go around the mask. In reality, cotton bandannas are not well fitted and offer no protection at all. Instead, cotton masks are simply useless.
Here is a link to another study which found that both surgical and cotton masks were ineffective in blocking the corona virus. Here is the quote: “Both surgical and cotton masks seem to be ineffective in preventing the dissemination of SARS–CoV-2 from the coughs of patients with COVID-19 to the environment and external mask surface.” Here is the link: https://www.acpjournals.org/doi/10.7326/M20-1342
Here is a link to a study that compared cloth masks to both no masks and surgical masks. https://bmjopen.bmj.com/content/5/4/e006577
As I would predict, the cloth mask group had a higher rate of infection than the no mask group and a much higher rate of infection than the surgical mask group. The penetration of viruses was 97% in the cloth mask group versus 44% in the surgical mask group. Here is a quote: “The results caution against the use of cloth masks. This is an important finding to inform occupational health and safety. Moisture retention, reuse of cloth masks and poor filtration may result in increased risk of infection... cloth masks should not be recommended ... particularly in high-risk situations.”
To be fair, some fake science tests found that, in ideal conditions, some masks were able to stop large droplets containing viruses. However, these same large droplets were able to settle on your skin, hair and clothing. So once again, in theory, theory and reality should be the same. But in reality, theory and reality are often completely different. This is why we should use real science to make decisions rather than fake science promoted by the mass hysteria media.
Speaking of the mass hysteria media, the current claim is that we should wear masks not to protect ourselves from others – but to protect others from us – just in case we are transmitting the virus and do not know it. Once again, reality gets in the way of this ridiculous claim. If you have the virus you will be transmitting it to the air at about the same rate whether you are wearing the cotton mask or not because the viruses are so small and so numerous, that they will not even notice that the mask was there.
Need more evidence that wearing masks is not effective in stopping viruses?
Here is a link to a 2012 review of the highest quality studies on this subject: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5779801/
There were 17 eligible studies. Six of eight randomized controlled trials found no significant differences between control groups (people not wearing masks) and intervention groups (N95 masks). None of the studies established a conclusive relationship between N95 mask use and protection against influenza infection.
Here is what the CDC used to say about the general public wearing masks: “The following interim CDC guidance was developed in response to questions about the role of masks for controlling seasonal influenza virus transmission. Masks are not usually recommended in non-healthcare settings.” https://www.cdc.gov/flu/professionals/infectioncontrol/maskguidance.htm
Here is what the Johan Carlson from the Swedish Public Health Agency said on May 13, 2020, in response to a question on why wearing masks is not recommended in Sweden: "Face masks in public spaces do not provide any greater protection to the population."
Sweden is apparently the last refuge of rational honest scientists on planet earth. However, a leading German virologist, Dr. Hendrik Streeck recently admitted that masks are a “wonderful breeding ground for bacteria and fungi”.
Serious Health Drawbacks of Wearing Masks
It might be acceptable to have everyone wear masks if it made them feel more comfortable about going out in public – and if there were no serious health drawbacks of wearing masks. But in fact, masks do not make everyone feel more comfortable. Instead, they simply instill more fear in people and make them even more afraid to go out in public.
As for the health drawbacks, there are several. Dr. Jenny Harries, England's deputy chief medical officer, has warned that it was not a good idea for the public to wear face masks as the virus can get trapped in the material and causes infection when the wearer breathes in. Masks are also a breeding ground for bacteria. "For the average member of the public walking down a street, it is not a good idea," Dr. Harries said.
Here is another study that concluded N95 masks could be harmful: https://www.clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT00173017
Here is the quote: “Wearing N95 masks results in hypoxygenemia and hypercapnia which reduce working efficiency.”
Medical staff are at increased risk of getting 'Severe acute respiratory syndrome'(SARS), and wearing N95 masks is highly recommended by experts worldwide. However, dizziness, headache, and short of breath are commonly experienced by the medical staff wearing N95 masks. The ability to make correct decision may be hampered, too
Here is another study where pregnant women wearing N95 masks were studied: https://aricjournal.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s13756-015-0086-z
Here is a quote: “Breathing through N95 masks have been shown to impede gaseous exchange and impose an additional workload on the metabolic system of pregnant healthcare workers, and this needs to be taken into consideration in guidelines for respirator use. The benefits of using N95 mask to prevent serious emerging infectious diseases should be weighed against potential respiratory consequences associated with extended N95 respirator usage.”
The main problem is that - even when you are not sick - when you breath inside of a well fitted mask, you exhale air with a high concentration of carbon dioxide and a relatively low concentration of oxygen. You then inhale this same “bad” air back in again. You then repeat this process over and over again – with the air quality getting progressively worse each time you breath. It will soon become obvious to you that you are feeling ill and feeling like you are about to pass out. This is because your brain needs a lot of oxygen and is trying to warn you to stop wearing the mask.
Reduced oxygen supply is also why people who are forced to wear masks at work all day often develop severe headaches. Researchers found that about a third of the workers developed headaches with use of masks and 60% required pain medications for relief. Another study involving 159 healthcare workers aged 21 to 35 years of age found that 81% developed headaches from wearing a face mask. The N95 surgical mask, if worn for hours, can also reduce blood oxygenation as much as 20%, which can lead to a loss of consciousness.
Note to those still paying attention to the mass hysteria media: There is a concerned effort on the part of the mass hysteria media to claim that wearing masks does not reduce oxygen levels. This may be true with cotton masks which are basically the same as not wearing a mask at all as far as flu viruses are concerned.
But it is not true as far as N95 or surgical masks are concerned – because both of these will partially block air flow. The lesson here is you need to stop paying any attention to the main stream media – which is funded by billionaires and drug companies – and start doing some actual independent research.
Here is a test (warning do this at your own risk and only if you think you do not actually need oxygen to function properly):
Sit in front of a mirror and hold your breath for a short while… Did you face turn blue? Did you think you were about to pass out? Do you still think that partially blocking the air flow to your lungs and re-breathing carbon dioxide air laden with bacteria is a good idea?
The second problem is that, if you are sick, you are also concentrating both viruses and bacteria inside of the air you inhale with each breath. At some point, this concentration can exceed your immune system’s ability to get rid of the virus.
The final problems are specific to the corona virus. One of the biggest risk factors of death besides age is poor air quality. There is no doubt that deliberately lowering the air quality will increase your risk of health problems with the corona virus.
But the biggest problem is that a drop in oxygen levels is certain to harm your immune system – which is the only thing that actually is protecting you from the corona virus.
Several studies have shown that hypoxia can reduce the immune cells that fight viral infections (CD4+ T-lymphocyte). Here are a couple of links: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5359232/
http://europepmc.org/article/PMC/4679538
The reduction in T cell metabolism and function occurs because hypoxia (low oxygen) increases the level of a compound called HIF, which reduces T-lymphocytes. This reduction in T cells increases the chances of you contracting any infection, including the corona virus - and makes the consequences of that infection much graver. In short, wearing a mask may actually increase your risk of infections.
People with cancer should certainly not wear masks since many cancers grow best in a low oxygen environment. Low oxygen levels may also play a part in increasing heart attacks and strokes – which along with cancer are the three leading causes of death.
Some doctors have claimed there are even more serious problems with having sick people wearing masks. Here is a quote: “By wearing a mask, the exhaled viruses will not be able to escape and will concentrate in the nasal passages, enter the olfactory nerves and travel into the brain.” — Russell Blaylock, MD
I understand that there will be many people who will wear a mask even if they do not think it does any good, simply to keep government officials happy and off their backs. But as for me, I think someone has to take a stand against this insanity.
I therefore intend to resist this government demand to wear masks. Instead, I will continue to take measures to improve my immune system.
Our remarkable immune system is what we should be focused on – and what the mass hysteria media never mentions. As always, I look forward to your questions and comments.
Regards, David Spring M. Ed.
spring for schools at gmail dot com