[DanBC]

> That's obviously false.

It's not obviously false, because there were studies available at the time that showed masks did not work to protect individuals, especially members of the public.

But, again, I'd be interested to read any studies you have that were 1) available at the time and 2) showed benefit of wearing masks.

[blub]

I've linked this somewhere else: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=25479729. This references studies from the SARS times and for flu. N95/FFP2 masks are pretty well established, they were used by front line workers in all the pandemics in the last decades.

That's why most Western countries were stockpiling them - as protection in case of a flu pandemic.