Everything You Always Wanted to Know About Masks, and the Deadly Falsehoods Surrounding Them - by By James D. Agresti on JustFacts.com. Another example of good research.
Lubos Motl discusses some of the mathematical modeling behind various salient topics in virology. Highly mask skeptic, Dr. Motl estimates masks have a 2% effect on R-value. Estimates of R for the Chinavirus are between 5-8, making a 2% decrease practically meaningless.
"Do Masks Work? A review of the evidence" by Jeffrey H. Anderson - A great article that does what it claims.
Mask mandate and use efficacy in state-level COVID-19 containment - A preprint evaluating the mask mandate policies and concluding that mask mandates do not impact the spread of the Chinavirus.
Conclusions: Mask mandates and use are not associated with slower state-level COVID-19 spread during COVID-19 growth surges....
Another anti-mask peer-reviewed literature review, this one focused on the negative side-effects of prolonged mask usage. Is a Mask That Covers the Mouth and Nose Free from Undesirable Side Effects in Everyday Use and Free of Potential Hazards?
We objectified evaluation evidenced changes in respiratory physiology of mask wearers with significant correlation of O2 drop and fatigue (p < 0.05), a clustered co-occurrence of respiratory impairment and O2 drop (67%), N95 mask and CO2 rise (82%), N95 mask and O2 drop (72%), N95 mask and headache (60%), respiratory impairment and temperature rise (88%), but also temperature rise and moisture (100%) under the masks. Extended mask-wearing by the general population could lead to relevant effects and consequences in many medical fields.
only weak evidence at best could be found for masks alone in everyday use
Another aggregation of face-mask evidence.
From the CDC's publication Emerging Infectious Diseases, a metastudy from the University of Hong Kong entitled Nonpharmaceutical Measures for Pandemic Influenza in Nonhealthcare Settings—Personal Protective and Environmental Measures, which is a metastudy surveying RCTs of mask use and other preventative measures. As pertaining to mask use, it concludes:
Our systematic review found no significant effect of face masks on transmission of laboratory-confirmed influenza.
Another day, another scientific article highlighting the antiscientific hypocrisy of the coronavirus extremists in government. Facemasks in the COVID-19 era: A health hypothesis This one has an exceptionally pointed conclusion.
The existing scientific evidences challenge the safety and efficacy of wearing facemask as preventive intervention for COVID-19. The data suggest that both medical and non-medical facemasks are ineffective to block human-to-human transmission of viral and infectious disease such SARS-CoV-2 and COVID-19, supporting against the usage of facemasks. Wearing facemasks has been demonstrated to have substantial adverse physiological and psychological effects. These include hypoxia, hypercapnia, shortness of breath, increased acidity and toxicity, activation of fear and stress response, rise in stress hormones, immunosuppression, fatigue, headaches, decline in cognitive performance, predisposition for viral and infectious illnesses, chronic stress, anxiety and depression. Long-term consequences of wearing facemask can cause health deterioration, developing and progression of chronic diseases and premature death. Governments, policy makers and health organizations should utilize prosper and scientific evidence-based approach with respect to wearing facemasks, when the latter is considered as preventive intervention for public health.
"Medical Masks" (archive). JAMA Patient Page article from March 4, 2020 by two MDs that explains to the general public about mask usage.
Face masks should not be worn by healthy individuals to protect themselves from acquiring respiratory infection because there is no evidence to suggest that face masks worn by healthy individuals are effective in preventing people from becoming ill.
Masks are neither effective nor safe: A summary of the science by Dr. Colleen Huber. A 42-citation-deep exploration of the efficacy of masks, especially in the context of the Holocough.
Facebook post: On one hand, I don't agree with forced mask usage. On the other, masks are useful tools, and mitigate disease risk. On the third hand, public support for mask use is undoing authoritarian policies aimed at forcing people to abandon their anonymity in public spaces. Keep them optional but advised and I'll lend my support, but the second it becomes mandatory, I'll resist. This parallels my position on vaccines, only masks have no potential for introducing an acute concentration of toxins into the bloodstream, so they're strictly lower on the risk spectrum.