From the University of Louisville

Here is the study:

https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1101/2021.05.18.21257385v1

Here are some news commentaries:

https://tennesseestar.com/2021/05/29/new-study-shows-masks-did-not-slow-covid-spread

https://townhall.com/tipsheet/spencerbrown/2021/05/26/new-study-refutes-fauci-efficacy-of-mask-mandates-n2589990

I have a feeling over the next few months a lot of new studies will come out with the same conclusion. Wearing a mask in a surgery suite or paint booth doesn’t translate out to general population wearing them all day everywhere. To many other transmission points not to include the high rate of improper mask use and false security.

I wonder what factors kept the flu rate so low.

In my experience at work it is because literally no one was testing for it. Any flu like symptoms were automatically categorized as Covid.

The flu was out there just as normal.
Everything was covid. Heart attacks, strokes, car wrecks, flu, syphilis, cancer was all covid.

Lack of testing would be the biggest contributing factor, IMO.

Probably a combination of many things, but anecdotally speaking the one thing I've noticed across the board is that the general public seems more aware of personal hygiene with regard to hand washing, using hand sanitizer, etc. Also a lot of businesses figured how to minimize the need for commonly used touch point surfaces such as having to unnecessarily press buttons on credit card machines. Most of my payment interactions are now tap and go. Before the pandemic I don't remember seeing those as often.

This, literally every illness was linked to Covid, therefore all other numbers were lower. There was no distinction between “with Covid” and “from Covid”.

A few years ago a friend got the flu and as a result of his weakened condition died of a heart attack and the cause of death was listed as heart attack. If the same situation happened with Covid it would be counted as a Covid death.

The non political dispassionate look back on the COVID issue a few years down the road should be quite revealing.

Scoop

Not sure there’s a “conclusion” here. It doesn’t appear to be peer reviewed.