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** Getting the Cochrane Mask Review Right
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Since almost the beginning of the pandemic, face masks have been polarizing. And that’s no less true today.

At the end of January, the prestigious nonprofit Cochrane published an update to its long-running systematic review on “physical interventions to interrupt or reduce the spread of acute respiratory viruses,” part of which touched on mask interventions.

The review found that based on the existing randomized trials, most of which were studying influenza, there wasn’t clear evidence that promoting mask use in communities prevented the spread of such illnesses.

“The high risk of bias in the trials, variation in outcome measurement, and relatively low adherence with the interventions during the studies hampers drawing firm conclusions,” the authors wrote.

So, the result was uncertain -- and only two trials were actually conducted during the COVID-19 pandemic.

But people online quickly pointed to the review to falsely claim that it showed masks “don’t work” for COVID-19.

As Science Editor Jessica McDonald explains, the evidence on masks is more complicated. When looking at the COVID-19-specific trials, some experts told Jessie that the findings are consistent with a small to moderate benefit.

“To me, this shows that there is a reasonably clear modest benefit to community masking interventions during the COVID-19 pandemic, decreasing the rate of infections in groups of people who are given masks and told to wear them by ~13%,” Gideon Meyerowitz-Katz, an epidemiologist from the University of Wollongong in Australia, told Jessie. “That’s quite an important benefit in the context of a pandemic.”

Read “What the Cochrane Review Says About Masks For COVID-19 — and What It Doesn’t ([link removed]) ” to find out more.
HOW WE KNOW
In a controversial segment about the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol, Fox News host Tucker Carlson claimed that surveillance video from that day showed "the Capitol Police never stopped Jacob Chansley," aka the “QAnon Shaman.” Instead, Carlson falsely claimed, "They helped him. They acted as his tour guides.” We reviewed footage from the HBO documentary "Four Hours at the Capitol," which included an interview with Capitol Police Officer Keith Robishaw explaining how he was trying to calmly convince Chansley and others to leave without resorting to violence. "Meeting violence with violence at this time would not be safe for me and my fellow officers,” Robishaw said. Read more ([link removed]) .
FEATURED FACT
It's a small world, finance edition. Greg Becker -- CEO of SVB Financial Group, parent company of the failed Silicon Valley Bank -- also served on the board of directors at the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco until the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation took control of SVB on March 10. Former Rep. Barney Frank, a Massachusetts Democrat who chaired the House Financial Services Committee and co-authored the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act in 2010, was serving on the board of New York’s Signature Bank, which regulators shut down and placed under the FDIC's control on March 12. Read more ([link removed]) .
WORTHY OF NOTE
Kathleen Hall Jamieson, a co-founder of FactCheck.org and director of the Annenberg Public Policy Center, has been elected to serve on the board of the American Association for the Advancement of Science.

The AAAS, which publishes the Science journals ([link removed]) , describes itself ([link removed]) as "the world’s oldest and largest general science organization."

In its press release ([link removed]) , AAAS says Jamieson "employs rhetorical analysis, surveys, and experiments to understand campaign communication, the science of science communication, and ways to blunt misinformation and conspiracy theories."

“Understanding how communication functions in society is pivotal to the scientific enterprise and the future of the STEMM workforce. As long as science and scientists retain their commitment to the norms of transparency and self-critique, science will remain our most reliable source of knowledge and innovation. And I find that fact inspiring,” Jamieson said in the release.

For more, read the APPC press release ([link removed]) .
REPLY ALL

Reader: Are Mexican cartels killing 70,000 Americans a year?

FactCheck.org Director Eugene Kiely: The 70,000 figure is most likely a reference to the number of U.S. residents who overdose annually on opioids, including fentanyl. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates that there were 107,622 drug overdose deaths in the United States in 2021, including 80,816 on opioids, such as fentanyl, the agency said in May 2022. ([link removed])

According to ([link removed] Fentanyl Flow in the United States_0.pdf) the Drug Enforcement Administration, "Mexico and China are the primary source countries for fentanyl and fentanyl-related substances trafficked directly into the United States."

The rising number of overdoses – and the increase in fentanyl seizures at the southwest border – has become a partisan issue. Republicans have connected the rise in overdose deaths to the increase in fentanyl seizures at the border to criticize President Biden’s border policies.

But as we wrote in a December 2021 article ([link removed]) :

The vast majority of the illicit fentanyl is discovered during vehicle inspections at ports of entry by CBP’s Office of Field Operations. Smaller amounts are regularly found by agents for the U.S. Border Patrol at interior checkpoints and during apprehensions of people who illegally cross the border between the legal ports.


** Wrapping Up
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Here's what else we've got for you this week:
* "Explaining the Missing Context of Tucker Carlson’s Jan. 6 Presentation ([link removed]) ": On Jan. 6, 2021, about 140 police officers were assaulted during the Capitol riot, and 326 participants — more than 100 armed with weapons — have been charged. But Fox News commentator Tucker Carlson has used recently released video from that day to misleadingly minimize the violence at the riot and to distort the actions of the police.
* "What to Know About Trump-Era Bank Deregulation and Bank Failures ([link removed]) ": With the recent failure of two midsize banks, some Democrats have blamed deregulation championed by then-President Donald Trump in 2018. While the law did reduce oversight of small and midsize banks, experts are divided over whether deregulation in 2018 ultimately caused Signature and Silicon Valley Bank to collapse.
* "Posts Spread Unfounded Claims About Russia’s Use of COVID-19 Vaccines ([link removed]) ": Russia developed a COVID-19 vaccine, Sputnik V, in 2020. President Vladimir Putin has said he received three doses of the vaccine, and the government continues to urge Russians to get vaccinated against the disease. But social media posts falsely claimed Putin “ordered the destruction of all” COVID-19 vaccine stockpiles in Russia.
* "Posts Fabricate Charge Against Bill Gates in Philippines ([link removed]) ": Social media posts make the unfounded claim that the Heinous Crimes Court in the Philippines issued a warrant for Bill Gates’ arrest for “‘premeditated murder’ linked to vaccine roll out.” That court no longer exists, and a spokesperson for Gates told us there is no warrant for his arrest.

Y lo que publicamos en español ([link removed]) (English versions are accessible in each story):
* "Publicaciones hacen comparación errónea entre la inmunidad al COVID-19 procedente de la infección y la que brindan las vacunas ([link removed]) ": Tanto la vacunación como la infección brindan inmunidad que protege contra el COVID-19, en particular contra enfermedades graves. Pero adquirir inmunidad a través de una infección es mucho más riesgoso que la vacunación. Publicaciones que citan un nuevo estudio publicado en The Lancet omiten este importante contexto y afirman engañosamente que el estudio muestra que la inmunidad después de una infección es superior a la inmunidad tras la vacunación. Uno de los autores del estudio nos dijo que no hay “datos suficientes para afirmar definitivamente” que la inmunidad tras una infección es superior.

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