If by people you mean academic and institutional voices in power, then I fully agree. I'm only repeating my comment above for effect, here: the WHO and CDC said that masks were not recommended for the general public, and did more harm than good, and this only changed in June.

So from here, the issue is that common sense was shot down in favor of credentialism. I wore a mask starting in March because it was common sense, and I was given scientific arguments for not wearing them. Because, science. That I observed medical professionals wearing them, and east Asian citizens doing this for decades already, was irrelevant in the face of credentialed spokespeople from large organizations arguing that up was down and down was up.

So then the idea that people are children and should be treated as such becomes very elitist if taken like this.