Wearing masks sometimes, or often, made one more likely to get COVID-19 infections, Norwegian researchers have found.The peer-reviewed study, published in the journal Epidemiology and Infection analyzed the mask use of 3,209 Norwegians over 17 days. Among participants who “never or almost never” wore masks, 8.6% tested positive. But 15% who “sometimes” used masks, and 15.1% of those “almost always or always” did so, were found to test positive.Even after adjusting for vaccination and other factors, the study still found it went better for the maskless. Those who wore masks sometimes or often had a 33% higher incidence of COVID-19 and those who almost always or always wore masks were 40% more likely to be infected.Somehow a “sensitivity analysis” to account for “differences in baseline risk over time,” redefined the risk to a “less pronounced” 4% higher incidence of infection for mask-wearers.“The results contradict earlier randomized and non-randomized studies of the effectiveness of mask-wearing on the risk of infection.” the four researchers wrote.“Most of these studies reported that wearing a face mask reduces the risk of COVID-19 infection. Some observational studies have reported many fold reductions while one community-based randomized trial failed to demonstrate a statistically significant reduction in infection risk and one cluster randomized community trial found only a modest reduction.”The study, fully funded by the Norwegian Institute of Public Health, acknowledged a weakness: people who used masks may have done so to protect others from their own infection. This would help explain the “positive association between risk of infection and mask usage.”Another possibility is that mask wearers felt safe while wearing masks and thus didn't follow other regulations such as social distancing, researchers noted.“Our findings suggest that wearing a face mask may be associated with an increased risk of infection. However, it is important to note that this association may be due to unobservable and non-adjustable differences between those wearing and not wearing a mask,” the paper stated.“Therefore, caution is imperative when interpreting the results from this and other observational studies on the relationship between mask-wearing and infection risk. Recommendations to wear face masks in the community are largely informed by low certainty evidence from observational studies.”Evidence-based or not, some regions in North America are reinstating mask mandates. Seven Canadian hospitals reinstated mask mandates last month to “help prevent transmission of COVID-19.”Last October, British Columbia Provincial Health Officer Bonnie Henry mandated health care workers, volunteers and visitors would be required to wear “medical” masks in all public health care facilities.In California, San Francisco, Alameda, Santa Clara, San Mateo, Marin, Contra Costa, Napa, Solano and Sonoma, issued mask mandates to last until spring. Some applied only to health care workers, while others also applied to visitors and patients.The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends wearing masks to counter COVID-19. “Masking is a critical public health tool and it is important to remember that any mask is better than no mask,” the CDC said in an August 2021 update.Meanwhile some states have pledged to refuse mandates. Texas Gov. Greg Abbott tweeted in August there would be “NO mask mandates in Texas.”Florida Surgeon General Joseph Ladapo has also slammed mask mandates.“What do you call re-imposing mask policies that have been proven ineffective or restarting lockdowns that are known to cause harm? You don't call it sanity," he tweeted. "These terrible policies only work with your cooperation. How about refusing to participate.”A review published in late January at the Cochrane Library analyzed 78 randomized controlled trials and failed to find “a clear reduction in respiratory viral infection with the use of medical/surgical masks.”Tom Jefferson, a senior associate tutor at the University of Oxford and lead author of the study, told the Brownstone Institute there hasn’t been a “proper trial” of masks through a huge, randomized study. Instead, experts perpetuated a “fear-demic."
