Claim
On 11/09/2020 The CDC published a report on Community and Close Contact Exposures Associated with COVID-19. In this report the CDC showed evidence that wearing masks was not effective at stopping the virus in three quarters of those patients tested for Coronavirus.
This statement was echoed by President Trump on 15th October 2020.
Snopes Rating – Mostly False
Full Fact Rating – None
Fact Check .org – None
Our Rating – True
Justification
Snopes ruling was as follows:
Nearly three-quarters of people interviewed in a non-peer-reviewed study conducted by the CDC said that they had worn a mask or cloth face covering while in public in the weeks leading up to their COVID-19 diagnosis. The report concluded that although people were wearing masks, that does not mean they were wearing them properly, and that “masks cannot be effectively worn while eating and drinking, whereas shopping and numerous other indoor activities do not preclude mask use.”
However, the findings do not suggest that masks and face coverings are ineffective at preventing the spread of COVID-19. Rather, the report argued that although people said that they had worn a mask, that does not necessarily mean they wore it properly. And even if they wore their mask appropriately and followed recommendations, such measures may be insufficient in certain settings.
The data from the CDC clearly shows the wearing a mask alone is not effective at preventing the spread of Covid-19. This is a fact and it cannot be talked away as Snopes tries to by introducing Social distancing as an obfuscation.
The data in the report clearly shows that 70.6 % of case patients and 74.2% of control participants contracted Coronavirus while always wearing a mask.
Any discussion around this is not science and is introducing politics into the report which does not exist. Suggesting that people did not wear their masks “properly” is demeaning and pernicious and shows that fact checkers are not checking facts, rather selling a narrative.
Evidence
The CDC Report online:
https://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/volumes/69/wr/mm6936a5.htm
A PDF copy attached:
