As a supposedly free country we have a large portion of people who are willing to give up all its freedoms out of a little fear. In the history of humanity giving great power to a very few almost never ends well for the masses. Those who are put in place to "protect" invariably seek to become those who control.
There is absolutely no downside to wearing a mask.
If a mask does work, it can help slow the spread of viruses.
Masks are effective at helping an infected wearer reduce spread to others. This is not exotic science, this is not a “party line,” it is accepted and, frankly, obvious scientific observation. Respiratory pandemics are not new and masks have been used to combat them since at least a hundred years ago.
Even the recent study cited by the parent comment of yours admits that masks are still effective at preventing transmission from an infected person to others. Sure, they aren’t effective at protecting the wearer. That was never the intention.
If they are even single digit percentage more effective than not wearing one, why not just wear it? Heck, they keep your face warm in the winter.
Conformity over something that doesn't work: that's a cost.
Fear: that's a cost.
Not being able to relate to other human beings using our facial expressions the same way: that's a cost.
> Masks are effective at helping an infected wearer reduce spread to others. This is not exotic science
There is literally no Science to bake that up. It's literally superstition. BMJ Published research saying they're not effective:
https://bmjopen.bmj.com/content/bmjopen/5/4/e006577.full.pdf
Cambridge says they should only be used as a last resort:
https://www.cambridge.org/core/services/aop-cambridge-core/c...
and most recent was the 6,000 person study from Denmark which came to the same conclusion: they do not work.
"The findings of the study found that adherence to mask use significantly reduced (95% CI, 0.09-0.77;P5.015)the risk for infection associated with influenza-like illness" https://www.cambridge.org/core/services/aop-cambridge-core/c...
"A protective mask may reduce the likelihood of infection, but it will not eliminate the risk, particularly when a disease has more than 1 route of transmission. Thus any mask, no matter how efficient at filtration or how good the seal, will have minimal effect if it is not used in conjunction with other preventative measures, such as isolation..."
Cambridge doesn't say masks don't work. You talk as if masks are as effective as dowsing rods and mask-wearers have been duped.