I suspect that masks used in a clinical setting by trained doctors generally do work 95-99% of the time. They put the mask on carefully, don't touch their face, and use the mask for one task in one room, and then take it off carefully.
In real world usage by non-trained people, things are different.
The problem is that normal people aren't always using N95 masks once for less than 2 hours. They'll often wear the same mask all day, or for days.
They'll go days/weeks/months between washing their masks. I'm sure people will be breathing in a colony of bacteria and giving themselves pneumonia.
They'll constantly be touching their face and adjusting their face diaper and spreading germs that way.
Because they have the mask on, they'll be super confident and avoid any kind of social distancing. (Ever seen a sandwich shop worker handling cash while wearing gloves, and he thinks he's doing the right thing just because he's wearing gloves? Masks give people the same false confidence that they're immune)
I suspect that masks used in a clinical setting by trained doctors generally do work 95-99% of the time. They put the mask on carefully, don't touch their face, and use the mask for one task in one room, and then take it off carefully.
In real world usage by non-trained people, things are different.
The problem is that normal people aren't always using N95 masks once for less than 2 hours. They'll often wear the same mask all day, or for days.
They'll go days/weeks/months between washing their masks. I'm sure people will be breathing in a colony of bacteria and giving themselves pneumonia.
They'll constantly be touching their face and adjusting their face diaper and spreading germs that way.
Because they have the mask on, they'll be super confident and avoid any kind of social distancing. (Ever seen a sandwich shop worker handling cash while wearing gloves, and he thinks he's doing the right thing just because he's wearing gloves? Masks give people the same false confidence that they're immune)