I disagree that for the general public there is no need to wear masks. If you go to a supermarket and someone sneezes/coughs at you, even a scarf around the nos

I disagree that for the general public there is no need to wear masks. If you go to a supermarket and someone sneezes/coughs at you, even a scarf around the nose gives _some_ protection. Less than perfect, but more than nothing. A proper mask would give more protection. The fact that there are not enough masks is a different issue, but it doesn't mean they are not needed. I don't need any evidence or data for this and I don't need to have a theory of aerosoles to understand this, as it is common sense, and there is zero downside to do it, so it is a no-brainer. But if I still needed data, I could look at which countries have the most widespread mask-wearing among the general public: Japan, SK, Taiwan, China, HK, Singapore. Basically, all the countries that managed to contain the epidemic with reasonable success. When the top Chinese epidemics/virology expert was asked in an interview what Europe and US are doing wrong, he said if he had to mention one thing, it would be lack of masks.