Oh I get that, and from that perspective it wasn't a terrible idea, but the other consequences of that decision seem to have really screwed things up. It's just a shame it was necessary/they felt it was necessary to do it.
I'm not sure if it would've changed what the people that don't trust what people in authority think anyways, but I think it had a pretty deep impact on a lot of people to not trust what they say going forward.
When they first said masks don't work, I thought it was about as obvious as a 5 year old being asked if they ate all the cookies and saying, "No I didn't." when they're covered in crumbs, but apparently a lot of people were shocked they were lied to.
Wiley.
There was some of that. There was also some lack of info yet just how airborne this virus was.
At first I was skeptical about masks. It wasn't for a month or so that the first studies started coming out showing how long this virus could remain airborne.
I can wash my hands after coming back from the grocery store, but I have to breath while I'm there. Between other peoples mask and my mask I think we are all safer than if none of us wore masks and safer than if only one of us was wearing a mask.
Cloth masks aren't perfect, but the supply on N-95 masks probably need to be reserved for first responders and medical personnel. If nothing else, it might reduce the size of the inoculation you receive which might mean the difference between a mild case and ending up in the bone-yard.
The people screaming they have the right not to wear a mask in public would probably argue they have the right to drive drunk if they choose.
