COVID face masks (surgical/cloth): there is NO research, NO evidence anywhere that ANY COVID mask worked! NONE! & Miller & Prasad's research proves what we always knew (good study) that POLITICS drive
the lifting of face masks, NOT COVID-19 cases or hospitalizations; rather it is ones politcial affiliations! ONLY politics was the uncovered driver of dropping (as such instating) masks mandates
‘Changes in Masking Policies in US Healthcare Facilities in the First Quarter of 2023: Do COVID-19 Cases, Hospitalizations, or Local Political Preferences Predict Loosening Restrictions?’
https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1101/2023.07.11.23292518v1
‘Results We found that the odds of lifting the mask requirement was not associated with COVID-19 cases (OR 1.00, 95% CI 0.97 - 1.02, p-value = 0.54), or hospitalizations (OR 1.06 95% CI 0.88-1.27, p-value = 0.33). We found that for every 10% increase in Republican votes in the 2020 presidential election, there was a 1.33 (95% CI 1.07 - 1.64, p-value = 0.01) increase in odds of having lifted masking requirements completely.
Discussion We found that the odds of lifting the face mask requirement in healthcare facilities was not associated with COVID-19 cases or hospitalizations but was associated with county-level political affiliation. Our results raise the concern that public health measures may be increasingly seen as political gestures or a response to local political factors.’
On page 5 of the OSHA Respiratory Protection Handbook for Hospitals states that surgical masks do not protect a person from small particulates. I personally did a study showing that a person wearing a surgical mask for 8 hours a day is being exposed to carbon dioxide levels that are two times over the OSHA exposure limit. Hospitals that are requiring their employees to wear surgical masks all day are in violation of OSHA regulations.
Masks have been known for they are and are not for a century. Any and all who promoted their use need to be severely reprimanded; like lose their jobs, careers and whatever medical licensing they have in addition to paying a massive portion of their wealth into a restitution fund to all who lost anything due to the mad maskers.