> Are those actual, real concerns or just post-rationalizations and coverups for depleted stockpiles which would lead to panic buying? It was a real concern, y

> Are those actual, real concerns or just post-rationalizations and coverups for depleted stockpiles which would lead to panic buying? It was a real concern, you could find American scientists quoted in news articles years before Covid criticizing the East Asian public for wearing masks in the face of a MERS resurgence in South Korea, for instance. The fear of people getting infected by handling the mask was also perfectly fitting in with all the other fears about surface and fomite transmission and the obsession about washing hands and sanitizing, which as we have learned more about the disease seems to be almost entirely wasted effort. Pretty sure what actually turned American and European opinion around on masks was noticing that South Korea, China, and Japan were all doing a lot better against Covid and were using masks widely not just in the hospital. Also, at least in the USA a lot of government communications are subject to FOIA and no one came up with any sort of smoking gun email indicating the government knew widespread masking would help in late February/early-to-mid-March and was suppressing the truth. Whereas we got plenty of other emails about the disorganized response (search for “Red Dawn” and “coronavirus” on google).