With the Ontario government now advising face masks (like most of the WHO-driven world), I requested evidence to justify this new decree from staff at our local hospital. They pointed me towards a report from Ontario Public Health titled COVID-19 – What We Know So Far About…Wearing Masks in Public.

Here I would finally find proof that masks save lives and make sense.

Alas, I really doubt the staff who recommended the document actually read it.

First of all, the document begins quasi-admitting they have no proof that masks are of any use. It says masks are “likely beneficial,” have “potential functions” and “theoretically” serve as an adequate filter of viral droplets. It even admits that “existing evidence demonstrates that wearing a mask within households after an illness begins is not effective at preventing secondary respiratory infections.”

Not a convincing start.

The same report then cites seven randomized trials designed to evaluate how mask use in the general public might reduce influenza-ilke illnesses. Surprisingly, all seven studies determined that muzzling yourself with a surgical mask resulted in no significant reduction in influenza-like illnesses.  Here’s a quick summary:

1. A randomized controlled trial by the University of Michigan-School of Public Health found hand washing reduced influenza-like illnesses; while mask wearing made no difference whatsoever.
2. A German randomized controlled trial found “there was no statistically significant effect” when it came to wearing masks “on secondary infections.”
3. A 2010 randomized study in the The Journal of Infectious Diseases found that neither “face mask use and hand hygiene nor face mask use alone was associated with a significant reduction in the rate of influenza-like illnesses cumulatively.”
4. A randomized controlled trial conducted in Thailand during the H1N1 pandemic found “Influenza transmission was not reduced by interventions to promote hand washing and face mask use.”
5. A 19-month randomized controlled trial of crowded urban households found a significant reduction in upper respiratory infection through educational interventions; but no reduction when adding hand sanitizers or masks.
6. A randomized controlled trial of people sleeping together in tents during an Islamic pilgrimage was reported in Infectious Disorders. Researchers found no difference in laboratory confirmed influenza cases among those wearing masks and those who were not. 
7. A randomized trial in France found that mask wearing only produced a 0.4% reduction in secondary infection and “did not identify any trend in the results suggesting effectiveness of facemasks.”

I commend the authors of this government report for their honesty; but question the logic of the same government then advising a practice that their own references show produces no “significant reduction in the rate of influenza-like illnesses.” And if masks won’t help with the humble flu, how are they going to be of any use against the mighty coronavirus?