Masking study fallacies are obvious

Vincent J. Curtis

1 Dec 22

RE: Mac-lead research shows surgical mask as effective as N95. By Ritika Dubey The Hamilton Spectator 1 Dec 22.

The paper by Dr. Mark Loeb is not readily accessible on line, but from the news reports it is clear why Dr. Loeb found that surgical masks are as effective as N95 masks for preventing the spread of COVID-19.

Let’s start with the fact that he was studying exclusively health care workers who attended to COVID-19 infected patients.  Front-line health care workers generally have robust immune systems to start with, given that they work with patients with infectious diseases all the time.  Second, from the time-line in the story, these health care workers would have been vaccinated, and if the vaccine worked, the masks they wore really wouldn’t matter.  So, of course there was no difference in masks given the robustness of the immune systems of the trial’s subjects.  If they simply don’t get sick, of course it will appear that the masks perform the same because the masks weren’t providing the protection assumed by the study.

A more general problem with the trial is its lack of control.  I know Dr. Loeb was dealing with trained professionals, but given that the subjects were in Canada, Egypt, Israel, and Pakistan, the exposures to the disease in the different locales are different, and unobservable to him. The geographic separation means the infectiousness to which the trial subjects were exposed can be different, and it wasn’t Dr. Loeb himself fitting the subjects with masks before exposing them to the disease.

Loeb’s study seem to defy common sense, and that’s why, given the trials weaknesses, it can’t be definitive, or even taken as indicative yet.

An N95 is supposed to seal closely to the face, while a surgical mask does not.  A mask that seals closely to the face has a better chance of sealing viruses out than one that does not.  In addition, the filtration material of an N95 can remove viruses from incoming air, while the material of a surgical mask cannot remove particles as small as 0.1 microns.

I know the Spectator proudly is trumpeting this study favorable to their prejudices for mask mandates, but the weakness of Dr. Loeb’s study are glaring and his study should by no means be taken as deciding anything.

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