I think there were three factors at play:
1. The actual medical recommendation to wear masks and their medical efficacy.
2. The recommendation by infectious disease leaders and how it was influenced by the politics of emergency supply management.
3. The recommendation by political leaders and how it was influenced by their desire to shape public perception of the situation.
1- there was initially some pushback from the medical community about the efficacy of spit masks, until it became clear that the virus was not primarily transmitted via exhalation, but by transport via spittle onto other surfaces. If the virus is being spread by sharing breathing air, only something like a medical N95 with no exhale valve can stop it. If it's spittle-borne, the spit masks can help immensely. That disconnect between the transmission mode and the medical understanding led to some confusion about the medical efficacy of spit masks.
2- there was also the influence of political considerations around recommending masks be worn and the immediate impact to the available stocks of PPE, which we saw regardless. It would have been an order of magnitude worse if the immediate order from early March had been a mask recommendation. Was it necessary? It shouldn't have been, but our strategic stockpiles of PPE for pandemic response were not being distributed, so it may have been. In either way, it was another factor on the communication regarding masks.
3. there's a clear influence from the political leadership in this nation against admitting the severity of the situation and taking active and aggressive measures to stop it. A national mask mandate could end this thing inside of 2 months, but we don't have one and Trump's made it clear he won't mandate masks to preserve the "freedom" of the citizens. At every turn, his administration has minimized admission of concern and maximized the appearance of normalcy, while also politicizing the situation ("Democrat hoax") and refusing to wear masks in public even while his staffers were testing positive.
It should not be a political topic; the first two considerations should be the only considerations; and the second one shouldn't have been necessary. It became political when Trump's failures cost American lives, though.
Sorry if this post gets the thread moved. It's a topic unable to be discussed without touching on the political aspects, as it exists as a topic solely for that reason.
