Letter to the Editor: A Review of the Benefits of Masks, If Any

~ Submitted by Robert Kalantari

Despite the detailed data and scientific explanations against extending the mask mandate presented by Bedford Board of Health member, Dr. Ann Kiessling [Kiessling holds a Ph.D. in Biochemistry/Biophysics]; the rest of the board members voted to extend the mask mandate in our town.  Does wearing face-covering help to prevent the spread of the Covid virus?  Let me try to provide some information before I make my conclusion.

First, here are some facts about masks: There are different types of masks designed for specific applications, some have special filters that filter out specific particles, like chemicals, pesticides, hazardous particles, radiation, etc.  In order for face masks to work, we need to use the proper masks to protect us from any of these hazards and they must be worn properly with a positive seal around your face, nose, and sometimes your eyes to be effective.  If it’s not the correct mask and worn properly the mask will not do its job, and you will likely breathe in air and exhale around the mask negating its function.  As an example, facial hair will typically not allow for a positive mask seal and negate the effectiveness of a proper mask.  Here is a simple test to show how ineffective these paper masks are: Try painting something with an aerosol paint can while wearing your covid mask. If you can smell the paint fumes your mask is ineffective. The fumes are going right through and around the mask and into your lungs.  Why, because these masks provide absolutely no protection against the paint particles.  It is the same when it comes to the Covid virus.  The virus can enter and exit your body through and around these paper masks.  Now if you wear N-95 masks, these masks do provide some level of protection against this virus, but mainly from liquid contamination.  However, you cannot wear N-95 masks for a long period of time.  They are designed to be worn for a medical procedure and not all day since they restrict breathing.

When Covid started in early 2020, we were advised by many health organizations, including the World Health Organization, the CDC, and Dr. Fauci, that the paper masks are ineffective and we should not rely on these masks, or cloth face coverings. All of these experts knew that these masks were not effective to protect us against this virus.  But for some reason, the narrative changed, and we are now being told to wear face masks with no scientific evidence to support it.

There are many studies that indicate wearing these masks all day in most cases is doing more harm than good.  These studies illustrate how masks allow bacteria to form subjecting us to other problems.  Wearing incorrect and ineffective masks also provides a false sense of security instead of emphasizing things that do work like social distancing, avoiding crowded areas, etc.  I also know that people died from Covid who thought they were protected wearing these masks.  They followed the mandate and wore masks to visit a sick family member and sadly, ended up getting Covid and died.  After all, isn’t that what are we telling people to do, wear masks to protect us?  This is all very misleading because the average person does not understand the limitation of any masks, they don’t know what type of mask to wear, and as stated above, the paper masks that we wear loosely around our face have zero protection against this virus, but the public follows the so-called experts’ advice and in this case the mandate and wears these ineffective masks to protect themselves.

For the record, I do not underestimate the seriousness of the Covid virus, especially for individuals with underlying medical conditions and older people. I am also in favor of the Covid vaccinations being available voluntarily and not mandated.

The reality is that this virus is here to stay, it is now endemic.  We need to encourage, not mandate everyone to get vaccinated, especially the vulnerable population.  We know by now that a good majority of our population in our state, close to 5 million have been vaccinated and over 800,000 have had Covid, with over 780,000 of them fully recovered.  It is time for us to do the right thing and stop these rules and mandates with these ineffective face coverings.  This pandemic is over, but now we are in the endemic phase.  This virus, like the other flu viruses, is going to be around forever.  And we all, vaccinated or not, soon, or later will most likely get it.  The data shows that if we are vaccinated, we have a much better chance of quicker recovery, and a very small chance of getting hospitalized, and a very small chance of dying from this disease.  It is time for us to get back to normal living before we cause more harm to the public and our children.  It is time to rescind this unnecessary mask mandate in our town.