So – apparently masks did not stop influenza then?
“Looking back over the past couple of years, I’m pretty confident in saying that COVID can certainly block flu and RSV,” Webby said.
It wouldn’t be the first time that scientists have observed such patterns.
Viral interference: Why did flu, RSV disappear during early pandemic? (usatoday.com)
The “masks stopped influenza” argument did not make sense: Why would masks stop influenza but not Covid?
In my state, when we had 94% mask wearing compliance, Covid cases increased by a factor of 10 over 2 months. But flu was suppressed. We were told that masks stopped flu but they had no explanation for masks failing to stop Covid.
Related – of course, this news report is badly out of date:
Already, there are indicators that the fall surges of RSV and flu might have peaked, while COVID is on the upswing after the winter holidays.
No it’s not: Flu, Covid-19 and RSV are all trending down for the first time in months | CNN
The post holidays surges never happened: “Will Thanksgiving make a bad season of respiratory illness even worse?” – Coldstreams
