Hospital personnel wore them when tending to patients with communicable diseases and those with compromised immune systems before Covid. During severe ‘flu outbreaks, even personnel in doctors’ offices wore them and encouraged patients to wear them, too, especially elderly patients.
Asians wore them routinely out in public during flu outbreaks years before Covid. How well they work is still being studied.
All I know, is, if I’m caring for a cancer patient and his doctor tells me to wear one, I do. If I went against doctor’s advice and gave that patient a disease his compromised immune system couldn’t handle, I’d die of guilt. If I wear the mask, wash my hands all the time, etc., at least I know I’m doing all I can. He might still catch something despite my best efforts, but at least I made my best effort. It’s just how I am. You might be different.
I am different. I don't trust MDs at all.
Show me the evidence is my mantra.
MDs put themselves forward as professionals with ethics, but as revealed during Covid the medical industry is rife with corruption and cowards.
Even before Covid there are many examples of MDs giving harmful or useless advice.
See, also, in response to catching heat from the DEA for the opioid crisis, the AMA agreed to sell out patients via an agreement with the DEA to establish controlled substance registries that enable any official in state government to access patients' medical history without a warrant. Thus, if a patient gets a prescription for any drug on the controlled list, into the registry they go. (Note, the DEA wanted a federal registry, the AMA pushed back on that in lieu of state-run registries.)
Also, the whole scam where MDs are protected from liability for malpractice if they follow the so-called "standard-of-care" even if the "standard-of-care" is out-of-date, harmful, or useless.
No other profession or industry has that level of protection from liability. In normal industry, following an industry standard does not provide immunity from negligence if you knew or should have known that the standard was not safe. Also, they are discouraged and often prohibited (by their health systems or insurance providers) from trying treatments that are outside of the standard-of-care because if they do so they are exposed to liability if there is a bad outcome.
Thus, MDs are almost completely captured by regulators and insurance providers. Recall that the US medical industry promotes the mutilation or sterilization of children as the standard-of-care for so-called gender affirming care.
MDs can provide a necessary function/service but by no means assume they know what they are talking about. Your life depends on it.