Masks DO protect !!!!

I have to disagree. The vast majority of people are not wearing masks that are P95 or better, they are wearing cloth masks, either homemade or surgical. And almost everyone, regardless of whether they are wearing a P95 or a different type of mask are wearing the wrong size and even if they have the right size, they are not fitting them properly when putting them on. 

I've seen the masks on sale since the start of Covid and i've only ever seen the one size fits all. Now I can tell that prior to Covid, N95s came in different sizes and i know this because we buy them for our business. I wear a different size mask from my husband. So the overwhelming majority are wearing ill fitting masks. And tiny particles are travelling in and out of the mask via the air gaps around the sides and on the bridge of the nose and around the chin. 

And then we have the issue of the duration of effectiveness of mask and the protocol of putting them on and taking them off. It's over and above ridiculous. And don't get me started on medical / surgical masks.

I will say that the one advantage I can see on mask wearing is that it heightens the wearer's awareness of germ transfer, as it's an ever present reminder about air bourne infection.

I still see people here who wear masks. I was at an event a couple of weeks ago which was lots of women crammed into a small hall and everyone in close proximity to everyone else and there were 2 or 3 in masks. I doubt the masks gave them any protection but maybe it made them feel better. 

The problem is that some people are much more vulnerable to illness than others and there is a limit to what they can do. Lock downs and mask mandates have shown us all that it's not practicable or realistic to lock up healthy people in a vain attempt to save frail people. Afterall, we've all got to die of something sometime.

Maybe the answer lies somewhere in the realms of each individual trying to make themselves as healthy as possible? Get fitter, lose weight. I would say give up smoking but the French paradox during Covid blows that idea out of the water. Plenty of smug people said that Covid would wipe out all the smokers but when the French government noticed that fewer smokers were dying than non smokers they did a study (that was then hushed up as it was generally felt that everyone should be encouraged to give up smoking and it was irresponsible to point out any benefits of smoking). The study showed that nicotine in cigarettes actually stopped the spike protein in Covid from binding to the lungs and smokers generally had a much milder Covid experience. 

So who knows what the answer is?