You may have the virus for up to a week before you get symptoms, some people are infectious but DON’T develop symptoms.
If that person wears a mask, they will infect far, FAR, fewer people.
Whether you wear it frontwards or backwards, or two or three at a time, homemade or paper. They all equally reduce the number of people YOU may unknowingly infect.
More people wearing masks = substantially lower transmission rates. Which means things like businesses and schools can start to cautiously reopen again. Businesses want their employees making wages, NOT getting sick. They are perfectly reasonable to insist their staff interact only with persons wearing masks, for THEIR personal safety.
It’s no more a political issues than, ‘No shirt, no shoes, no service.’
They just don’t want their staff, who by necessity interact with many people during a shift, at risk. This much should be very simple to understand.
Literally the ENTIRE rest of the world understands this.
Wear the damn mask. It’s not a big sacrifice, just do it!
OP. I understand your question. In the dark of night I have these very conversations in my head.
I look at it like this: for some reason in decades past the doc said take 2 aspirin and call me in the morning. I believe 2 was an arbitrary amount. One aspirin would’ve been fine. Probably.
One mask is enough. Stand back 6 feet as well. Or 3 feet.
This is a question there’s probably no answer for.
this is a silly question, but I’ll answer. no, the mask is to prevent you from spraying potentially virus-laden droplets out where others might inhale them. In Japan, it’s common courtesy to wear one if you’re sick and have to go out in public.
I was going to mass manufacture hover boards powered by cats with buttered toast strapped to their backs, but gathering up the raw materials was like herding … well, like herding cats!
A surgical mask can also protect the wearer. The melt blown fabric in the middle layer will help capture contaminated droplets in the environment from being inhaled (see chart below). However, keep in mind that the efficiency of the mask is highly dependent on getting a good fit. A mask with significant gaps around the edges is going to do a poor job of filtration regardless of what it is made of.