An optimisitic interpretation is that mask wearing looked to have a plausible mechanism for benefit, and so as the situation ran ahead of the data, the public h

An optimisitic interpretation is that mask wearing looked to have a plausible mechanism for benefit, and so as the situation ran ahead of the data, the public health officials probably made a best effort guess that mask wearing will probably help and so made the recommendation. Not all public policy can be 100% informed by data 100% of the time. I like to think that this carried more weight in the decision than just wanting to appear to do something, though I am sure that also played some role. Thankfully most evidence-respecting organizations including governments have taken the position that it is very unlikely that HCL is of any benefit as the data has become better. Its really only fringe groups who are pushing that one hard still and even many of those have moved on to ivermectin.