Name:   MartiniMan - Subject:   Interesting study by CDC on effectiveness of masks Date:   10/12/2020 4:19:09 PM

CDC study showed the following based on behavior 14 days before becoming infected:

71% of those who tested positive for the Wuhan virus ALWAYS wore a mask

14% of those that tested positive OFTEN wore a mask

7% SOMETIMES wore a mask

8% RARELY or NEVER wore a mask.

Put more generally, 85% of those that wear masks and 15% that generally didn't were infected.  There are some other interesting findings about their social activities but if this data is indicative of the broader population it is pretty obvious that other factors have more to do with infection rates and that masks do little to change the outcome.  Interestingly, for those who had close contact with a person that had the virus, family members accounted for 51% of the contact.  Work and friends were the next two highest.  No surprise there. 

Here is the link:  https://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/volumes/69/wr/mm6936a5.htm

And you will see it is not a large dataset so take it with a grain of salt.  But one would think if masks are effective we would see a different result.  This study certainly reinforces my view that the other measures (social distancing, washing hands, etc.) are far more effective.