It’s nonsense like this that makes more people skeptical and less willing to take advice that’s actually good. There is ZERO benefit to wearing a mask in your own back yard, unless you’ve invited over so many people that you’re packed in shoulder to shoulder. SARS-CoV-2 doesn’t spread well outdoors.
Here’s the basic advice they should be pushing across the board: wash your hands regularly and especially when you’ve been outside your home, actively avoid touching your face as much as possible particularly when outside your own home, wear a multi-layer woven fiber mask that covers your nose and mouth when in an indoor public place (like a grocery store, but not outside or at home because that’s pointless), avoid crowds, practice social distancing.
If everyone does that, transmission rates crater. Telling people to do other things that don’t make any sense just ends up confusing and irritating people.
Actually, transmission rates crater on their own, depending largely on the virus’s schedule. Take a look at California, where multiple control measures were put in place in June - including mandatory masks darn near everywhere - and cases haven’t responded to any of them.
The college kids coming back to school is going to make the positive cases explode IMHO. My fear is another shut down or slow down.