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More Than 150 Comparative Studies and Articles on Mask Ineffectiveness and Harms

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More Than 150 Comparative Studies and Articles on Mask Ineffectiveness and Harms
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Paul E. Alexander
Updated:
Commentary

It is not unreasonable to conclude that surgical and cloth masks, used as they currently are being used (without other forms of PPE protection), have no impact on controlling the transmission of Covid-19 virus. Current evidence implies that face masks can be actually harmful. The body of evidence indicates that face masks are largely ineffective.

Paul E. Alexander
Paul E. Alexander
Author
Dr. Paul Elias Alexander is a COVID-19 consultant researcher in the US-C19 research group. He was formerly an assistant professor at McMaster University in evidence-based medicine and research methods; a COVID pandemic evidence-synthesis consultant-adviser to WHO-PAHO Washington; and senior adviser on COVID pandemic policy at Health and Human Services. He was appointed in 2008 at WHO as a regional specialist/epidemiologist in Europe's regional office in Denmark, worked for the government of Canada as an epidemiologist for 12 years, was appointed as the Canadian in-field epidemiologist (2002–2004), and worked from 2017 to 2019 at Infectious Diseases Society of America as the evidence synthesis meta-analysis systematic review guideline development trainer. Dr. Alexander holds masters level study from York University Canada, and a masters in epidemiology from the University of Toronto, a masters in evidence-based medicine from the University of Oxford, and a doctorate in evidence-based medicine and research methods from McMaster University in Canada.
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