Also we didn’t know that masks protect. At the time the thinking was the virus was spreading through surfaces so the guidance was to wipe down all surfaces, etc

Also we didn’t know that masks protect. At the time the thinking was the virus was spreading through surfaces so the guidance was to wipe down all surfaces, etc. But since then we’ve discovered that the overwhelming majority of spread has been due to direct transfer of the virus usually through water droplets. The virus is too small for masks to stop them. But most masks are good enough to stop water droplets.