Florida Surgeon General Dr. Joseph Ladapo railed against masks while speaking at a press conference in Panama City on Thursday.

“These are hard to find in Florida,” Ladapo said while holding up a navy blue cloth mask, eliciting a roar of laughter from officials behind him. “You gotta look hard, but if you know where to look you can find them.”

Ladapo went on to lament the fact that in the United States, most people “across the political spectrum think these things are saving lives.”

The doctor went on to cite different “levels of evidence” that are assigned to studies based on the quality of the research methods, explaining that the highest level of evidence is awarded to clinical trials.

“So, to the doctors who tell you that these things save lives,” he said, holding up the mask and prompting more laughter. “Ask them, ask them, what did the two randomized clinical trials that we’ve done during the pandemic — what did they show. Ask them that when they tell you that these things save lives.”

Ladapo claimed that one study found “zero benefit” to wearing a mask amid the pandemic, while another found “a tiny benefit that’s a little bit methodologically shaky.”

He went on to claim that not a single trial has shown any benefits for “young people” wearing masks.

It’s unclear which clinical trials the doctor was citing, yet in 2020, following the initial coronavirus outbreak, a study using coronavirus data from four clinical trials concluded that masks do impact transmission of the virus.

“Data from a community trial showed no transmission of seasonal coronaviruses from infected children to parents who wore a mask,” it stated, adding, “Data from a clinical trial of mask use by infected patients did not show any transmission of coronaviruses from the sick individual to family contacts.”

The article also noted, “More clinical trials are needed to assess the efficacy of respiratory protection against coronavirus infections.”

A gold-standard clinical trial in Bangladesh, led by researchers at Stanford Medicine and Yale University and involving nearly 350,000 people across the area, similarly found that surgical masks reduced transmission Covid-19.

“We now have evidence from a randomized, controlled trial that mask promotion increases the use of face coverings and prevents the spread of COVID-19,” said Stephen Luby, MD, professor of medicine at Stanford. “This is the gold standard for evaluating public health interventions. Importantly, this approach was designed be scalable in lower- and middle-income countries struggling to get or distribute vaccines against the virus.”

Ladapo went on to say that the “CDC likes to tout” research that yields lower evidence, adding, “You know, shaky studies, shaky methods, finding 80% reductions in infection — give me a break. I mean come on. Nothing that we’re seeing in this country justifies that conclusion.”

Despite the claim, the CDC has cited trials, including the one performed in Bangladesh, in order to promote the benefits of wearing a face mask.

Ladapo later criticized the fact that doctors who have rejected the usage of masks amid the pandemic have been kicked off of social media, while some have lost their jobs.

The remark was made after Gov. Ron DeSantis (R-FL) said the Florida legislature has been working to create the Free Speech of Health Care Practitioners Act, which would bar medical boards from “reprimanding, sanctioning, or revoking or threatening to revoke license, certificate, or registration of health care practitioner for specified use of his or her right of free speech without specified proof.”

“People are still holding up the illusion that these things safe lives,” Ladapo said during the press conference. “These are not saving lives.”

Ladapo’s rant against masks comes one day DeSantis berated a group of students for wearing face masks at a press conference at the University of South Florida.

“I mean, please take them off,” said DeSantis. “Honestly, it’s not doing anything. And we gotta stop with this Covid theater. So, if you want to wear it, fine. But this is, this is ridiculous.”

Watch above, via WFLA.

The post Florida Surgeon General Rails Against Masks a Day After Ron DeSantis Publicly Berated Students for Wearing Them: ‘These Are Not Saving Lives’ first appeared on Mediaite.

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