A new study out of Norway found that people who wore masks during the Covid pandemic were more likely to get Covid by about 75%!
This is a cross-sectional study and it was based on self-reporting of both mask-wearing and Covid diagnosis. Yet it points to the need for further examination when coupled with several other studies showing that masking may not work. None of this was new to health officials when they instated mask mandates. In fact, some studies suggested that mask wearing could cause the virus to go deeper into the body and cause a more severe case of Covid. This is called the Foegen effect.
The Norwegian study says that the increased Covid cases in mask wearers was “likely due to unobservable and hence nonadjustable differences between those wearing and not wearing a mask.” Meaning it may not be the mask itself but other factors that differentiate the mask wearer from the non-mask wearer. Like the Covid vaccine, which we also know increases the risk of contracting Covid? The study does not posit that as a reason but it is also worth discussing.