A visual demonstration why masks don't work: https://videopress.com/v/4egEyh2b
We did not identify any experimental volunteer studies that investigated whether surgical masks or N95 respirators could protect against infection: https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/epidemiology-and-inf...
Face mask use in health care workers has not been demonstrated to provide benefit in terms of cold symptoms or getting colds: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/19216002/