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Evidence continues to mount that face masks contribute to, rather than protect against, lung disease. Even more so when mask-wearers are immune-compromised as it is much easier for the bacteria and fungi accumulating at the entrance of their airways to breach weakened defenses. Bacterial pneumonia is considered the predominant cause of deaths in the 1918 Influenza pandemic, including species commonly concentrated on the surface of used face masks.

The Brownstone Institute continue to offer intelligent analysis of the pandemic crisis we are living through. The Incredible Persistence of the Myth of Masking by author and analyst Ian Miller is an excellent example. Also the systematic review of 150 articles on Mask Ineffectiveness and Harms by Dr Paul Alexander and a range of other analyses on their website.

Masks were the first sign that something was going wrong in the Covid-19 pandemic response. Once worn in hospital settings under strict conditions with training, testing, criteria and policies, “it can’t do any harm to wear one” became a phrase and media hosts became mask promoters. Health workers began wandering corridors with masks hanging from an earlobe or bunched up around their chin and used masks started polluting our gutters.

“Almost all of the efforts dealt with reducing spread of the illness and reducing contamination of health care workers. Almost exclusively … There was no discussion of how patients could be treated at home to prevent the risks of hospitalisation and death … it was clear these were the two bad outcomes“. ~ Dr Peter McCullough, Cardiologist, Epidemiologist, Covid clinician/academic.

Those of us with training in mask use and airborne disease control couldn’t make any sense of what was happening and it ultimately – I believe – made us some of the first to recognise that something malign is taking place. Hopefully we’ll be proven wrong but that looks less likely with each passing day. “The ironic thing is that most of the people commenting on masks really have no background or expertise … So we went out to find someone who actually has the credentials to clarify this mask issue once and for all…“. Dr Patrick Gentempo in this excellent conversation with Stephen Petty. Petty is a Chemical Engineer, Exposure / Personal Protective Equipment Expert who worked as a senior research scientist for 20 years.

“The biggest issue is that the area of industrial hygiene is not well understood by the public … My biggest complaint is that the media and public tend to go to medical doctors for expertise on exposure and exposure control, and that’s really not their sandbox … So we have medical doctors talking about exposure and exposure control … it’s kind of like having a heart physician doing your dentistry or a dentist doing your heart surgery, both of them might be fully qualified for what they do but you don’t want one doing the other guy’s job. I spend my entire life trying to protect workers and the public. Masks don’t do that …“. ~ Stephen Petty talks about established science of why masks don’t work, what protective measures would work, and reflects on the dystopia of being censored by “fact checkers” on his area of expertise.

Los Angeles Child Psychiatrist Dr Mark McDonald, on the harms of mask use and the impact he predicts this will have on a generation: “Aside from the fact that they’re absolutely useless … they instill and reinforce fear“.

Emergency Department Physician, Dr José Luis Gettor from Argentina on the oxygen needs of children and the impact on child health and development, of masking them: immediate harm, medium term harm and long term harm. He fails to mention the issue of speech development. Instead of acknowledging these harms and advising against mask use, USA CDC re-categorised child speech delays as normal. “It’s important to see who’s interested in children not having a high IQ“.

The nasty truth about masks and what lives on them
Dr Guy Hatchard, 25 July 2022

THE ‘experts’ are currently going all in on mask wearing. Professor Michael Baker, an epidemiologist at the University of Otago, has likened the unmasked to ‘murderers’ and ‘drunk drivers’. New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern is being widely rebuked for a photo op of a large unmasked group. Her excuse: ‘The photographer made me do it.’ 

They should read a Japanese report entitled ‘Bacterial and fungal isolation from face masks under the Covid-19 pandemic’ published by Nature last week. A picture is worth a thousand words so try Figure 5. These are the organisms found growing on face masks:

Note the pathogenicity column. These are dangerous for humans. The authors say: ‘We observed bacterial colonies in 99 per cent of the samples on the face-side and 94 per cent on the outer-side . . . We found no significant differences in the colony counts among the different mask types [non-woven, polyurethane, and gauze or cloth], regardless of the duration of usage.’

They add: ‘Since masks can be a direct source of infection to the respiratory tract, digestive tract and skin, it is crucial to maintain their hygiene to prevent bacterial and fungal infections that can exacerbate Covid-19.’

Forget ordinary washing, nothing short of prolonged boiling can get rid of these pathogens. Even frequent mask changes are ineffective as pathogens rapidly reappear.

The authors conclude: ‘We propose that immunocompromised people should avoid repeated use of masks to prevent microbial infection.’

Reports indicate that our hospitals are swamped with cases of respiratory illness. Is prolonged mask use exacerbating the situation? Very probably:   mRNA vaccination has been associated with immune deficiency.

Evidence in favour of mask use is at best weak and contradictory. To assess the counter-arguments read this. The Japanese report is one more nail in the coffin. The damaging effects on children’s psychological development is also well known.

But if you listened to Michael Baker’s multiple mainstream media interviews (see this for example) over the last week you wouldn’t be aware that there is any doubt on the subject of masks. He is going full tilt at Ardern to mandate them for schoolchildren, no exemptions, and he is getting plenty of sympathetic coverage in MSM.

Many of our experts are falling behind when it comes to reading the latest studies, or if they do read them, dogma ensures they only see what they want to see. Government funding distorts actions and advice further. Who in NZ is going to willingly give up generous government grants and payments in order to tell it how it is? At this point, New Zealand appears to be facing a science crisis. Some experts might benefit from a break to restudy, recharge, and reassess what works and what doesn’t according to the published science record.