Now that it seems everyone understands the importance of wearing masks to prevent COVID spread, the Gov. of Georgia has banned cities from requiring masks. Is there any wonder this thing is out of control?
Well, to be perfectly scientific about it, there is no evidence yet that wearing masks cuts infection rates for COVID-19, nor for whom. Inductive reasoning suggests it likely will, under the right circumstances, but there's no evidence.
People like to drone on about doctors and nurses wearing masks as if that's just the very pinnacle of logic. But there is a protocol for medical professionals wearing masks, without which the mask not only fails to protect against infection, it in fact becomes a vector for it. Most people have no idea what the protocol is.
And as for your average bandanna protecting you or anyone else? Forget it.
True. At this point, the best we have is inductive reasoning. It has been scientifically proven that wearing a mask significantly reduces release of particulates. As it appears that aerosolized droplets, and dosing with heavy virus load are the primary spread factors (rather than surface contact) so it is reasonable to extrapolate that even cloth masks significantly reduce that so would reduce the potential for spread.
Additionally, in countries where there has been good compliance with mask wearing (because they don't have Constitutional protection not to), they have much lower numbers than the US and have been able to open up without a significant resurgance.
Besides, unlike taking cloroquine or internal dosing of disinfectants, there is no harm to wearing a mask, so why not?