Masks, gloves, and frequent hand washing with soap and warm water have been proven to work for both COVID and other viral diseases and this has been settled science for a long, long, time.

Of course your definition of "proven to work" may mean "works 100% of the time with no exceptions" and that is an impossible bar to meet.

My, and many others', definition of "proven to work" is "reduces the rate of spread to the point that pandemics are impossible once an outbreak has been detected".

I've been a volunteer EMT for over 20 years and have interacted with many patients. In the mid-2000s after a particularly nasty bout of gastroenteritis I became the PPE (personal protective equipment) and hygiene tyrant.

Despite handling so many COVID patients it is impossible to even begin counting them, I have never tested positive for COVID and during the height of the pandemic I was being tested weekly (I was both a critical defense worker who needed a passed test to work in person AND a public health worker).

edit: that DOES NOT mean that PPE is 100% effective, it means that PPE in plus my hyper-anal stance on hygiene PLUS good old fashioned random chance favored me.

Even today I will don a mask prior to interacting with a patient if dispatch tells me there are respiratory issues and will put one on the second I hear a cough.

Between PPE and vaccines I can count the number of times I have been sick since 2020 on zero fingers.