No studies show masks work well against respiratory infections like COVID-19, a top White House health official has acknowledged. “There is no study in the world that shows that masks work that well,” Dr. Ashish Jha, the White House’s COVID-19 coordinator, said during a recent discussion with the Philadelphia Inquirer. Jha made the statement as…

A study of an international chess tournament has revealed that wearing a face mask significantly reduced the average quality of player decisions, impacting the cognitive performance of competitive chess players. Australian chess Grandmaster and University of Queensland Prof. David Smerdon analysed almost three million chess moves played by 8,531 people in 18 countries before and…

Commentary Many public health responses we saw during the pandemic were inherently unethical, but our flippancy concerning child safety in public schools has been among the most egregious. Sadly, families remain largely resourceless against power-hungry leadership. Masking remains an issue hotly debated at school board meetings around the globe. In Ontario, Canada, on Nov. 24,…

Commentary I’m mostly interested in Mike Pence’s book “So Help Me God” for what he says about the experience of COVID controls, for this is what wrecked the administration he served. That will be my focus in what follows but let me first address what everyone is right now thinking: how could anyone give their autobiography such…

Masking children was a “political decision” despite a risk of harm and limited benefits, claims the children’s campaign group UsForThem. Set up in May 2020, UsForThem have campaigned for the UK government to discontinue the use of masks for children and adults in school settings and evidenced the harm of lockdowns on kids. In a…

Dr. Anthony Fauci could not cite any studies that changed his mind about masking against COVID-19 during a recent deposition, lawyers who were in the room said. Fauci, the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) director, was among the U.S. officials repeatedly urging people not to mask early in the pandemic unless they…

The Ottawa Carleton District School Board, the city’s largest board, ended a heated, emergency evening meeting debating a motion to reinstate mask mandates in schools without a vote on Nov. 22. The motion before the board would require staff and students to wear surgical or N95 masks in all schools, except for musical/performing arts or sports activities…

In his first statement as Alberta’s new chief medical officer of health, Dr. Mark Joffe says the province will manage the annual flu season by transitioning “back to longstanding practices to manage respiratory infections.” Local public health officials will notify schools of outbreaks and provide support and advice as needed. “Winter is historically the peak season…

Amid calls from some for a renewed provincial mask mandate, Ontario Health Minister Sylvia Jones told reporters outside the legislature on Nov. 16 that wearing a mask is a personal decision. “Personal choice is important here, and we should not be passing judgment on people who wear a mask or not wear a mask,” she…

Kamil Bachouchi, a 21-year-old philosophy student at Wilfrid Laurier University, showed up to class on Nov. 15 wearing a “mask”—or rather, a hollowed-out grapefruit. It covered his nose and mouth, complying with the mandatory mask policy put in place for the fall university term. This is just the latest way Bachouchi, who plans to go…