![](https://science.feedback.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/Mask-use-does-not-lead-to-a-higher-risk-of-COVID-19-as-viral-social-media-posts-claim-1-e1602669261417.png)
Mask use does not increase risk of COVID-19 as viral social media posts claim
Claim:
More people who wear masks become sick with COVID-19 compared to non-mask wearers, therefore masks don’t work or are making us ill
Articles tagged with
Claim:
More people who wear masks become sick with COVID-19 compared to non-mask wearers, therefore masks don’t work or are making us ill
“The preprint that the article focuses on actually says nothing about the most egregious claim made in the article: that the virus is evolving to get around hand-washing, masks, etc. This comes from a quote from someone who’s not an author on the preprint, giving an opinion about the preprint…on a topic not covered by the preprint.”
Claim:
“Seriously if the ‘mask’ protects me and you from [COVID-19] and we've been walking around in them for months, why would anyone need a flu shot right now?”
Claim:
Masks are dirty and cause bacterial overgrowth, skin infections, and “mask mouth, [which is] a new medical condition caused by wearing masks all day”
“The Telegraph headline is obviously misleading but the subheading is accurate. Masks don’t give immunity; rather, the argument is that infections are milder or asymptomatic and allow immunity without severe disease. The article is essentially true to the NEJM commentary, however a reader could become confused and think that the article suggests masks give you COVID-19 immunity.”
Claim:
Cloth masks cannot block smoke particles which are larger than viruses, so masks cannot stop virus transmission
Claim:
“Either masks work or they don’t”; “I don’t understand the safety concern with voting in person. Your mask works, right?”
Claim:
“The overall lethality of [COVID-19] (IFR) is about 0.1% to 0.3% and thus in the range of a severe influenza”
Claim:
If masks were effective and necessary, non-mask wearers should be dead by now
Claim:
Health authorities like the World Health Organization and the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention discourage people from wearing face masks