Let's Deconstruct a CNN Article Promoting Mask Wearing

    
     CNN has a very  broad reach, yet most readers have no idea how flimsy is the evidence they cite to support their framing.  So I'd like you to join me now -- on a short exercise in critical thinking.

     On June 26th I saw the above article linked to on the main page of CNN's website where the first paragraph begins like this:
                                                                          (click, "read more" to continue)   ---->

   The implication here is that there is good evidence to support mask wearing. But how many people ever actually take the time to see what that evidence is and how compelling it might really be?

     The blue "evidence suggests" pictured above is actually TWO separate links.  We'll explore both of them.  If you click on "evidence" it takes you to this page:

 
       Here is the evidence from that page (screen shot below):

     If you are a critical thinker -- a few things might have just jumped out at you:

1. Their "evidence" is only for an N95 mask! These are very specific medical grade masks not the cloth ones that the pubic is wearing, nor even the cheep medical masks -- like those used in most dentist's offices.
2. But notice too that even for those, the certainty of that evidence is, "LOW"!
3. Not only that, but eye protection appears to be about as beneficial as medical masks -- but public health officials aren't even mentioning that at all...isn't that kind of interesting?
   
4. Even without physical distancing, the transmission rate from these studies is still pretty low.  (I believe most transmission is from people's hands.)
   

     The second link from the CNN article that supposedly supported CNN's claim of masks being important was from the word, "suggests" and it went to this page:

     That article is all about this new study:

    

     The conclusion from that research article states:

"We conclude that wearing of face masks in public corresponds to the most effective means to prevent interhuman transmission"

     "Most effective"....Really? So take a look at the graph of the data they used to come to that conclusion:

   
     Look carefully at graph A.  The dark blue vertical line is the point at which masks were mandated in NY. The little dotted blue lines are what they are using as evidence to show how the slope of new cases changed in response to the masks being mandated. Though it's clear that there are two different patterns -- one of four peaks increasing and one of four peaks decreasing...there's just one problem. The new pattern of four peaks decreasing clearly began BEFORE masks were mandated...most likely in response to the social distancing, since that was the variable that changed prior the establishment of the new downward pattern.

      Clearly before the mandate for masks goes into effect, a new pattern was established -- probably from the stay-at-home order. That pattern continues on unchanged by the order to cover one's face when out in public, completely invalidating their conclusion!

     Now if CNN was actually most concerned with informing people of the published science  most likely to save their life if acted upon, it would include these:

1.

    

      This is why taking Tylenol is so dangerous for COVID -- Tylenol depletes glutathione!

I did actually see a few news sources suggest early on suggesting that taking Tylenol might explain why some people got so sick with COVID. But very quickly came more articles debunking that suggestion. Then I never saw it mentioned again.  (Something similar to this happened in the 1918 flu epidemic -- we now know that many of the deaths attributed to the 1918 flu, actually turned out to be aspirin toxicity -- back then aspirin was a new product and it was prescribed in higher amounts that we now know were toxic. I have explained all this in my post making comparisons between COVID and Polio. (You can read that blog post HERE. Check it out -- it's a deconstruction I am very proud of!)

2.

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     This is why everyone needs to either get their vitamin D levels checked -- or else start taking vitamin D3

3.

    

     Oh wait --- CNN did cover that last study  -- even putting a huge headline declaring that  8.7 Million cases of COVID-19 in March went undetected right on their main page. I was amazed -- as it's unusual to see CNN mentioning any science that contradicts their, "we can't get back to normal until we have a vaccine" narrative.

   

     I actually discovered that article on CNN's main page just before midnight on June 22. It had the largest headline on their main page too. Apparently someone there didn't get the memo about about how they are not supposed to highlight science that might undermine the need for a COVID vaccine. But by morning this article was no longer mentioned on their main page. GONE into obscurity.  But that article is important because it further substantiates that the actual case-fatality rate of COVID-19 is actually in the range of a seasonal flu -- and that is WITH lots of people being deficient in vitamin D and taking Tylenol.  Just imagine -- if the media would discuss this science even half as much as they discuss maskes -- we could probably have prevented the majority of deaths altogether!  If we could just inform the public about what is really important -- taking Vitamin D and possibly N-Acetyle Cystein (NAC) which can boost glutathione levels, how people should avoid like the plague Tylenol (and probably ALL fever reducers!) We could probably drop the case-fatality rate way below seasonal flu.

Hey -- if you liked this article -- please be sure to check this one out:

A Look Back at Polio to Gain some Perspective on COVID-19