I won't disagree, but as I said before, it's all on shaky evidence. And that's what bothers me most about all this. LIke i said before, we've gone from the CDC and Fauci saying don't wear a mask if you're not sick, it does more harm than good (btw, this has been true for every other epidemic prior). To now, we're the devil and we don't care about peoples lives if we don't wear one.
But that's how these things work. When new information comes to lightt, you adjust recommendations accordingly. Would you expect them to NOT make adjustments to recommendations as they discover more about the disease?
The first round of recommendations against wearing masks were saying not to wear one to protect yourself, because they're ineffective at that. Once more info became available that asymptomatic carriers could spread the disease, the primary concern became not preventing an infection in the wearer of the mask, but preventing the wearer of the mask from spreading to others. Hence the new recommendation to wear masks, because while they're not effective at preventing the wearer from getting infected, they ARE effective at preventing the wearer from transmitting the virus to others.
BTW, here's some good research behind the effectiveness of masks:
1. Gunnel AB et al. To mask or not to mask: Modeling the potential for face mask use by the general public to curtail the COVID-19 pandemic. Inf Dis Model 5;293-308.
2. Tracht SMDV, Hyman J. Mathematical modeling of the effectiveness of facemasks in reducing the spread of novel influenza A (H1N1). PLoS One 2010;5(2)e:9018.
3. Kim SH et al. Effectiveness of Surgical and Cotton Masks in Blocking SARS–CoV-2: A Controlled Comparison in 4 Patients. Ann Int Med
https://doi.org/10.7326/M20-1342
4. Leung NHL et al. Respiratory virus shedding in exhaled breath and the efficacy of face masks. Nat. Med. 2020.
https://doi.org/10.1038/s41591-020-0843-2
5. Long Y, Hu T, Liu L, Chen R, Guo Q, Yang L, Cheng Y, Huang J, Du L. Effectiveness of N95 respirators versus surgical masks against influenza: a systematic review and meta‐analysis. J. Evid. Based Med. 2020. Mar 13.
https://doi.org/10.1111/jebm.12381
6. Davies A, Thompson K‐A, Giri K, Kafatos G, Walker J, Bennett A. Testing the efficacy of homemade masks: would they protect in an influenza pandemic? Disaster Med. Public Health Prep. 2013; 7: 413– 8.
7. Ma Q‐X, Shan H, Zhang H‐L, Li G‐M, Yang R‐M, Chen J‐M. Potential utilities of mask wearing and instant hand hygiene for fighting SARS‐CoV‐2. J. Med. Virol. 2020 Mar 31.
https://doi.org/10.1002/jmv.25805