There not saying they do not work..it is just they think people will not wash there hands and social distance...so the reward may be greater without them...plus the social benifit of no masks..
How effective is the mask ???? I guess from 95% to 10% depending what your mask is???
The Frontline Doctors who got censored on social media addressed this.
Cloth masks are like throwing a fistful of sand at a chain link fence. Yeah, it will stop some of it. But not enough to do you any good.
N95 and above is what is actually effective, and that is impractical for the typical person to walk around with. N99 and N100 best but that’s almost a hermetically sealed suit.