I truly don't believe this is the relevant question.
The questions society should be asking is this: "What percentage of the populace properly handles and dons masks? What percentage of the populace replaces or washes those masks thoroughly enough to prevent transmission? What percentage of the populace refuses to don a mask?
Answering these questions truthfully would provide a better coverage graph and allow researchers to find ways to increase the coverage and educate the public accordingly.
I was not trying to answer or even ask the mask question, I was using something the newbies (to virology) here would already be familiar with to point out that even though we know a good bit about viruses, experts still don't automatically know things like "how does this virus propagate", it takes time to tease out the answers and they don't always come.
It's a bit like yesterday's story here about massive amounts of evaporation of water occurring by a mechanism that science never knew about, just to point out that there is much to know that we don't know yet, and not to go deeper into evaporation where science is already struggling.
> "What percentage of the populace properly handles and dons masks? What percentage of the populace replaces or washes those masks thoroughly enough to prevent transmission? What percentage of the populace refuses to don a mask?
While those questions are somewhat useful, ultimately masks still help in any case.
If half the population doesn't wear a mask, masks won't work as well as they would if 100% of the population did, but they would still make a difference. If people don't wear or care for masks correctly it still doesn't make those masks useless because putting literally anything in front of somebody's virus spewing face holes helps a lot regardless.
This is why we teach children to "vampire cough", not because every single person on earth is going to do it 100% of the time, or because people's elbow pits provide N95 levels of protection, but because neither of those things is necessary for it to make a massive difference in the spread of illness.
I truly don't believe this is the relevant question.
The questions society should be asking is this: "What percentage of the populace properly handles and dons masks? What percentage of the populace replaces or washes those masks thoroughly enough to prevent transmission? What percentage of the populace refuses to don a mask?
Answering these questions truthfully would provide a better coverage graph and allow researchers to find ways to increase the coverage and educate the public accordingly.