Funded by the University of Southern California, the study noted that the randomized data about the effectiveness of mask mandates in children is still lacking. Researchers noted that while observational studies on school mask mandates showed conflicting results, randomized studies have failed to detect the impact of masking on participants under 50 years of age.
They used a "unique natural experiment to study school-based mask mandates" by analyzing data from two Fargo, North Dakota school districts: Fargo Public Schools (FPS) and West Fargo Public Schools (WF). Both districts have very similar demographics, with WF having slightly higher percentages of minority and low-income families.
Both districts had similar COVID-19 mitigation policies, testing options and staff vaccination rates, although FPS had stricter rules for quarantining close contacts of COVID-positive students.
The only significant difference between the district's approach to the virus was that at the beginning of the 2021-2022 school year, FPS required its students to be masked throughout the day, while WF did not. On January 17, FPS also made masks optional. This allowed researchers to compare the case rates when the districts had different policies and when they had the same. (Related: Yale professor scoffs at the idea that mask mandates are based on science.)
They found that from Aug. 26, 2021, to Jan. 17, 2022, the cumulative incidence in the mask-compulsory school district (12.9 percent) was almost identical to the cumulative incidence in the mask-optional district (13 percent).
Post-Jan. 17, when both districts had mask-optional policies, case rates were also not significantly different – with FPS having a 5.3 percent rate and WF having 5.1 percent.
The researchers stated that the K-12 school mask mandates were not associated with significantly lower COVID-19 student case rates, which is consistent with adult randomized data on community cloth masking, multiple observational studies of school mask mandates and a systematic review of medical or surgical cloth masking for influenza.
They posited that studies of school-based mask mandates are particularly prone to bias as cases detected within the student population may be at least 20 times more likely to have been contracted outside of school than in. Other observational studies also reported a negative association between mask mandates and COVID cases, although there may have been important methodological limitations to the studies as well. (Related: Medical professionals, students decry mask mandates and other Covid measures in schools.)
Study has strengths not seen in randomized trials
The study was not a randomized trial, but it did have its strengths. For instance, the two school districts have similarities and there's a "relatively long study period" with data from both the delta and omicron waves of the COVID-19. It also has "partial crossover" data for when FPS dropped its own mask mandate.
While there are no official data on the masking rates in either district, parents and administrators told the researchers that masking was near-universal in the district with a mask mandate and five percent or less in the district where it is optional.
Thus, the researchers concluded that the school mask mandates were not associated with significantly lower COVID-19 case rates. They added that their findings are consistent with a growing body of scientific literature that should be taken into consideration and weighed with the harms and discomfort of masking in an educational setting.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), meanwhile, admitted in its own study from 2020 that the 21 percent lower incidence in schools that required mask use among students was not statistically significant compared with schools where mask use was optional. For their study, the CDC analyzed some 90,000 students in 169 Georgia elementary schools in November and December.
However, the CDC buried its findings and chose not to include them in the report's summary. University of California, San Francisco professor Vinay Prasad commented that the masking requirement for students failed to show that independent benefit is of great interest. "It should have been included in the summary," he said.
Still, evidence continues to grow suggesting that the mask mandates are not effective at reducing the spread of COVID-19.
Watch Anthony Fauci admits mask mandates are about preserving authority over people.
This video is from the TruthParadigm channel on Brighteon.com.
More related stories:
Sources include:
Please contact us for more information.
