You're both right - by the time Omnicron rolled around it was evident that cloth masks were not as effective at preventing transmission. That said, cloth masks

You're both right - by the time Omnicron rolled around it was evident that cloth masks were not as effective at preventing transmission. That said, cloth masks were always recommended for gen pop given the low availability of N95 surgical masks. They're still better than nothing, and we're still learning more about this disease so it's subject to change even further as more observations are made.