People have short memories. In the early months of 2020, the CDC and WHO both recommended not wearing masks, for good reason. Decades of research had shown cloth masks were completely ineffective, and N95 masks were only effective if fitted professionally, and those should be reserved for health workers anyway. People who started buying up masks in early 2020 were accused of hoarding and possible price gouging.
Then the CDC changed its stance due to pressure from politicians who wanted to be seen as Doing Something, and we got the mask mandates starting in May. Masking took over as the most visible symbol of being a goodthinker, to the point that other efforts like social distancing and hand-washing were largely forgotten. I remember mask-wearers constantly going against the arrows in the aisles of the grocery stores, apparently thinking their loose cloth masks protected themselves and others around them so well that they could ignore all the other rules.
It was an incredibly stupid time, and a lot of the stupidity came from the top, from talking heads like Fauci who flipped overnight on questions like that and expected everyone not to notice.
Then the CDC changed its stance due to pressure from politicians who wanted to be seen as Doing Something, and we got the mask mandates starting in May. Masking took over as the most visible symbol of being a goodthinker, to the point that other efforts like social distancing and hand-washing were largely forgotten. I remember mask-wearers constantly going against the arrows in the aisles of the grocery stores, apparently thinking their loose cloth masks protected themselves and others around them so well that they could ignore all the other rules.
It was an incredibly stupid time, and a lot of the stupidity came from the top, from talking heads like Fauci who flipped overnight on questions like that and expected everyone not to notice.