We can estimate if it's worth. Let's say the yearly economic burden of flu in the United States is $11.2 billion [1]. Now we need to compare it to the total cos

We can estimate if it's worth. Let's say the yearly economic burden of flu in the United States is $11.2 billion [1]. Now we need to compare it to the total cost of wearing masks - both manufacturing and distribution, but also the burden on mental health you mentioned in your other post. Actuaries can help us find such monetary value. Then we have to find out how much we will save if people start wearing masks (i.e. how effective the masks are). Finally we compare costs and savings and form our conclusions. For example, assuming 330 million Americans would spend about $20 on masks every flu season, we would need the flu cases to drop by 59% to break even. It's based on a massive amount of assumptions and shortcuts. We probably won't need 100% of the population to wear masks. And I didn't include the cost of mental health, since I have no idea how to estimate it. But we can start from there. 1 - https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/29801998/ https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/29801998/