That’s not what it says. Anyone that wears a mask is more protected than a non-wearer, both in receiving and transmitting viruses, and even a homemade mask is better than nothing. Obviously the more people wearing masks the better off everyone will be. I had hopes that all people would be wearing masks in public but unfortunately the CDC thinks no one but HCP should be wearing any face protection at all.
Back to the original issue - do you actually believe that masks are effective if used by everyone but also believe the CDC should tell people not to use masks?
Based on what? Most of your points protect the public from a sick person wearing a mask, not the wearer of the mask.
Everyone has a responsibility to make sure they are safe, the CDC has a responsibility to make sure the public is safe. If everyone wearing masks will create a shortage for healthcare workers, we as a country will be at a much bigger risk. Since individuals wearing masks don't make the wearer much safer, personal responsibility doesn't say you should wear a mask. Therefore the important question at hand is public safety, the best way to protect the public is to make sure healthcare workers have the supplies they need. I also believe this is being blown way out of proportion, we don't tell everyone to wear masks every flu season.
