A new study has appeared claiming that cloth masks work to reduce the spread of COVID-19 – provided they’re made of three layers of cotton. The Mail reports on its findings.
Researchers at the Indian Institute of Science used synthetic cough droplets to model how well different mask types stand up to coronavirus particles.
They found that surgical and N95 masks are still the most effective at stopping coronavirus spread.
Cloth masks may be a suitable alternative if these masks only if they have at least three layers and are made of cotton, the team found.
These findings may be particularly useful for lower-income countries like India, where surgical masks are not easily accessible to the general population.
In fact, though, the study has not shown anything about the effectiveness of cloth masks to prevent infection. It is not a study of real-world transmission at all but a laboratory test of how masks stop synthetic droplets. These droplets are around 500 micrometres in diameter, so not aerosols, which are typically considered to be much smaller (certainly less than 100 micrometres and possibly less than five). It therefore hasn’t even considered how well the masks impede aerosol transmission, which is one of the main modes of transmission.
A recent study, the Bangladesh mask study, did look at the real-world effectiveness of cloth masks. It found a slight reduction from 0.76% antibody prevalence in control villages (no masks) to 0.74% prevalence in cloth mask villages, though this was not statistically significant. There were numerous problems with this study, not least than it was confounded by additional interventions (an awareness campaign) and did not properly measure initial antibody and prior infection levels. However, even with these limitations it still indicates very little discernible difference.
The Danish mask study, Danmask-19, found no statistically significant effect on infection from wearing surgical masks either. This is in line with pre-Covid evidence on the lack of effectiveness of masks in protecting from respiratory infection and transmission.
When will the mask zealots admit that their pet intervention is a dud?
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The Tories continually bleating that a vote for Reform is a vote for Labour is as tiresome as Labour droning on about 14 years of Tory decline and the mythical £22bn black hole magicked up by Rachel from Accounts.
“A digital counter on the Reform website showed its membership tally
before lunchtime on Boxing Day ticking past the 131,680 figure declared
by the Tories during their leadership election earlier this year.”
After its woeful election performance and betrayal felt by so many of its core voters, the Conservatives must have been haenorrhaging members since the Summer. In terms of numbers of members, Reform probably passed the Conservatives a few weeks ago..
“366,604 members as of March this year…”
And how many now after nearly six months of Starmer-Charmer?
Good point. And many of the members to whom ballot papers were sent by the Tories have probably died since they joined!
134 094… just now.
“A Conservative Party spokesman said: “Reform has delivered a Labour Government…”
Not delivered by a Conservative Party 14 years in Government whose policies were and still are those of authoritarian Left-wing Statist rulers?
I’ll say it again – I despise the treachorous bastards. 14 years of betrayal. How anybody with right of centre political views could still support the Conservatives, beggars belief.
And that’s the key point. How could anyone trust those lying bar stewards ever again? They delivered on virtually nothing, and to cap it off lied their way through Covid from beginning to end. It’s frankly amazing that they have any supporters left at all.
spot on.
There’s reportedly thousands waiting in France to cross the Channel. I suppose they must get sick of living in a tent, freezing their arses off, when they know they’re guaranteed a comfortable hotel with central heating and hot food, so not much to deter them really, is there? You just need a calm day at sea then Bob’s your uncle;
”451 migrants in 11 dinghies ILLEGALLY crossed the channel yesterday ‘Christmas Day’
100s more are crossing TODAY
35,489 migrants in 708 dinghies have now crossed the channel this year
21,924 migrants in 390 dinghies have so far crossed since the Labour Party took control.”
https://x.com/ActivePatriotUK/status/1872278460489482352
Bit like this hotel, then;
”Festive lunch at the Fownes Hotel!
Heating on blast & food stacked high,
We take you inside for a game of pool”
https://x.com/Truthhurts101UK/status/1871256062655152355
“A Conservative Party spokesman said: “Reform has delivered a Labour Government that has cruelly cut winter fuel winter payments for 10 million pensioners, put the future of family farming and food security at risk, and launched a devastating raid on jobs which will leave working people paying the price.
“A vote for Reform this coming May is a vote for a Labour council – only the Conservatives can stop this.”
A Conservative Party spokesman said:
“Firkin excellent weed this Christmas.”
The Tory barstewards had 14 years to sort things out. They managed only one thing successfully – opening the floodgates to unlimited immigration. Treasonous Next Tuesdays the lot of them.
They have some bloody cheek expecting loyalty or credibility from anyone. It’s a miracle anyone at all still expresses support for them. Any of them still chirping are clearly utterly deluded and have understood nothing from the their drubbing at the polls. When somehow SIX MILLION dupes voted for them and they became Her Majesty’s Opposition I did fear this would fuel their delusion. I believe I was right. They should be offering nothing but contrition and grovelling apologies.
All I can say is I’ve just read an interview with Kemi Badenoch in the Spectator.
She doesn’t have any ideas. She has nothing to say. If you take out the cliches, there is nothing left.
Nigel, in contrast, has something to say and knows what he wants to do.
I’m not sure I want politicians with “ideas”. I don’t want to be saved by politicians or have my life improved by them. I want them to leave me the hell alone and keep the peace and protect our borders.
I agree wholeheartedly. I’ve been a Minarchist for the past 20 years.
From Wikli:
A night-watchman state, also referred to as a minimal state or minarchy ……. has also been popularized by Robert Nozick in Anarchy, State, and Utopia (1974).[6] The United Kingdom in the 19th century has been described by historian Charles Townshend as a standard-bearer for this form of government.[7]
19th Century United Kingdom would seem a better alternative than what we have now.
I agree entirely. Politicians with “ideas” are a walking bloody disaster. If they only managed to control our borders properly they would perform an enormous service to this country and thereafter we will look after ourselves.
“control our borders properly”
That’s an ‘idea’ isn’t it? A good one, even.
Well it’s just doing the bare minimum that any government must do to be considered a government. Instead our government regulates bloody football.
I hope Reform are the grownups in the room. Kemi’s childish behaviour about a counter does not do her any favours.
Cameron, May, Johnson, Sunak – and 14 years of lies and broken “promises” delivered the Labour Government.
But why would they care about that? All that’s happened is that their Masters at the WEF have the Red Branch of the Uni-Party in power.
The Uni-Party is like a 3-legged stool. It is very stable (and will deliver for the WEF) until one of the legs is broken. Then it cannot stand.
Reform is breaking the Blu-Green leg.
Stop stop press – the Reform Party seems to have convinced the Telegraph at least that their numbers are genuine.
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/politics/2024/12/27/reform-uk-threatens-legal-action-kemi-badenoch-members/
Kemi is the distinctly unimpressive leader of the rump of a once-great but now shrivelled party. They long since abandoned everything “Conservative” and became simply a vehicle for careerist hacks.
They are in fact quite sad really. Like a crumbling and rubbish-strewn abandoned factory.
The future of the Centre Right belongs to Reform.