In another sign of changing attitudes to pandemic policy, infectious disease specialists writing in the Annals of Internal Medicine this month argued against the continuation of universal masking policies for doctors, nurses, and other health care workers.
The timeline leaves out the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's initially confusing advice on masking but acknowledges that factors like the development of immunity, the evolution of the virus, and development of pharmaceutical "Countermeasures" have fundamentally reshaped the landscape of the pandemic.
Some in the medical field, such as Dr. Kalu Ibukunoluwa and co-authors writing in the journal Infection Control and Hospital Epidemiology in January, argue for making universal masking requirements in health care settings permanent, stating that such "Universal source control masking should become the 'new normal' for all healthcare institutions."
A controversial meta-analysis from the highly regarded research institution, The Cochrane Library, published in March found "No clear difference" between masked and unmasked health care workers in preventing transmission of the flu, nor any clear difference in results using N95 masks versus other masks.
According to Sherri Tenpenny, an osteopathic medical doctor who founded the Tenpenny Integrative Medical Center in Ohio, "Masks didn't protect people from getting sick during the pandemic and they certainly should not be used now. More than 150 comparative studies and articles have been published that show mask ineffectiveness and document how masks harm the health of persons who wear them."
She went on to tell The Epoch Times in an email that "Masking policies for everyone, including health care professionals, should be eliminated because they are not an 'effective infection prevention strategy.'".
The CDC continues to cite mask wearing along with other measures such as social distancing and school closures as contributing to the dramatic drop in influenza rates during the pandemic.
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