We are suddenly confronted with a frontal assault by the government to put an end to “disinformation” about COVID and Elections. The issue of ensuring fair elections will be a topic for another day but the government’s concern with those of us writing about COVID needs immediate attention.
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has decided that it is time to put an end to COVID disinformation. Steve Kirsch has written about this and provides a long list of both high profile media and government officials as well as organizations that have spread misinformation. However, I want to show you specifically how the government is largely responsible for a disinformation campaign of their own. CDC is a principle source of that effort.
Yesterday, Andy Beshear, Gov. KY gave his weekly COVID briefing during which he explained the importance of wearing masks to prevent the spread of COVID. To make his point, Governor Beshear used this CDC poster:
Simply looking at this poster should convince anyone that mask wearing prevents disease spread. Right? But lets take the advice of DHS’ Cybersecurity Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) which tells us:
”The United States remains in a heightened threat environment fueled by several factors, including an online environment filled with false or misleading narratives and conspiracy theories, and other forms of mis- dis- and mal-information (MDM) introduced and/or amplified by foreign and domestic threat actors. These threat actors seek to exacerbate societal friction to sow discord and undermine public trust in government institutions to encourage unrest, which could potentially inspire acts of violence.”
And that “…the proliferation of false or misleading narratives, which sow discord or undermine public trust in U.S. government institutions…” is a substantial part of that “heightened threat”.
So lets take a deeper look at the wisdom of the CDC and the “truth” that it is conveying about masks.
The Scientific Basis of the CDC Poster
If you look carefully you will see two things. First, the data was derived from 534 people who reported using one of the three masks shown in the poster or no mask at all. The key word is reported. Those 534 individuals were contacted by CDC and were asked if they wore a mask and if so, what type. In epidemiology this is called “self-reporting”. One of the main problems with “self-reporting” is something called “recall bias”. In other words people often do not have a clear recollection of what they are reporting. This is can skew the outcome. But for the sake of argument lets assume that each of the 534 individuals provided correct information.
Now we are confronted with the issue of “power”. In epidemiology “power” is a term used to describe whether there were an adequate number of individuals in the study in order to give reliable results. While 534 seems to be a rather small number upon which to base the information provided in the poster, again for the sake of argument I will assume that the study had sufficient power and the results are correct.
In other words, according to CDC cloth masks lower the risk of testing positive for SARS-CoV-2 by 56% while surgical masks reduce that risk by 66%, and the N-95 respirator reduces the risk of testing positive by 83%.
And there you have it. CDC has just proven that masks work.
The Devil is Always in the Details
There’s one little detail that CDC felt compelled to share with us but didn’t think you would mind or perhaps understand that it undermines their entire narrative and here it is ————> * ; an asterisk. Its right there in the title:
”People who reported always wearing a mask in indoor public settings wereless likely to test positive for COVID-19 than people who didn't*”
I think that we all understand that the purpose of an asterisk is to suggest that there is some additional information that we might be interested in. In this case the information, found in the very last bullet item at the bottom of the poster in tiny print is this: “*Not Statistically Significant.”
In other words despite CDC’s assertion and reassurance that you will be protected by a mask or an N-95 respirator they found that there was no statistical difference in the results. The real statement should be this:
In a study of 534 individuals who self-reported on their mask wearing no statistical difference was found to suggest that mask wearing was effective in preventing a person from testing positive for SARS-CoV-2 compared to a person not wearing a masks or among the different types of masks.
In short, the CDC poster is really telling us that masks are ineffective barriers against “SARS-CoV-2.”
A Final Word
If CDC can’t be relied upon to tell us the truth even when we can see it with our own eyes then why should we trust them on anything that they have said about SARS-CoV-2?
Clearly, it is CDC that is providing “false or misleading narratives”.
And the consequence of that is an agency of the federal government “which sow(s) discord or undermine(s the) public trust in U.S. government institutions.”
Union, KY
9 Feb 2022