EDITOR:

The mainstream media will make exuberant claims about the following “research” study over-and-over in the coming weeks.

“The Impact of Mask Distribution and Promotion on Mask Uptake and COVID-19 in Bangladesh.”

The research paper was published online as a “work in in progress,” so I have seen the same study several times with slightly different titles.

The study involved 340,000 people in 600 villages, and was conducted by Mushfiq Mobarak, Jason Abaluck, and many others, along with the NGO policy group, “Innovations for Poverty Action.”

Villages were randomized to: Masks; or No masks. In the “masks” villages, residents were offered no-cost cloth or surgical masks, they were shown videos of politicians promoting masking, and religious leaders (imams) promoted mask-wearing.

First, this study had serious technical problems. The researchers really don’t know how many persons actually wore masks, especially in the “masks” villages. Mask wearing was counted by researchers (spies) in the villages. These villages are small, and every resident knows every villager. In the masks villages, they knew that the government promoted masking, so when spies showed up, they masked. The spies counted only outdoor masking, and there is no information at all about indoor masking in any village.

Second, the results were not impressive. In the “masking” villages, the rate of proven COVID-19 infection was 0.70 percent. In the “no-mask” villages, the rate was 0.76 percent. This is indeed an 8, maybe 9, percent decrease in infection, but there was a reduction from almost-no-infection to practically-no-infection. These results came only from surgical masks.

Third, cloth masks showed no difference in rates of infection. I was a medical professional for decades. I wore surgical masks often, but never for more than about four hours. After several hours, the masks got damp, and I could no longer breathe through them, so I got a new one. If you want to minimize COVID-19 by masking, don’t use cloth masks, and get about 6 surgical masks for each day.

Fourth, I have been in discussions (arguments?) with other Escanaba healthcare providers about masking school-aged persons. After in-depth study, I found that there is no research study with actual data that shows that masking school-aged victims does anything for the students or their teachers. There are many CDC opinion-pieces promoting masking school-aged persons, but none with any scientific data.

Finally, I am not a COVID nut-case. When I go into a restaurant, I feel naked without my mask. But the Governess of Michigan has decreed that while sitting and eating, we are not contagious, so we don’t need any mask while eating. I had COVID last October, proven by antibody testing, I got both vaccines in February and March, and I will take the booster when it is available. I actually believe in vaccines.

Ralph B Blasier

Escanaba