At the beginning of the crisis I was under the same impression and hoped for the government to provide masks here in Europe. Then, I learned some aspects I can‘

At the beginning of the crisis I was under the same impression and hoped for the government to provide masks here in Europe. Then, I learned some aspects I can‘t fully verify, but that changed my thinking about everyone using masks: Masks give a false sense of protection for ordinary people without education about the correct usage. Most of the masks are used wrong and they do not protect eyes (which are touched frequently) nor hands (you‘d need to wear gloves as well, but putting them off without potential cross-infection is even more complicate for untrained people). Masks need to be changed frequently (else they even collect more potential infected material), used masks need to be disposed safely. According to some experts, using a mask in the wrong way and too long even makes it more likely to get infected. As others have pointed out, masks can lead to touching your face more often if the mask feels uncomfortable. And there are simply not enough masks available and the current production is needed for medical staff. And have a look at videos from China and SG: Most people do not use FFP3 / N95 rated masks but simpler ones not really giving full protection for COVID-19. All that changed my view as masks for everybody. Of course, you should definitely use a mask during every human contact if you have symptoms or are worried you could be infected yourself.