Comment by autoexec

Putting just about anything in front of your face will help prevent spreading illness to some extent, this is why we teach children to "vampire cough". Masks were always effective to some degree. The CDC lied to the public by initially telling them not to use masks because they wanted to keep the supply for healthcare workers and they were afraid that the pubic would buy them all up first. It was a very very stupid thing to do and it undermined people's trust in the CDC and confused people about masks. After that masks became politicized and the whole topic became a minefield.