There is plenty of evidence that high quality, well fitted masks (N95 or equivalent) work in the sense of reducing the risk of transmission in any single close contact interaction. But so what? The virus is here to stay and can never be eradicated. Obviously people aren't going to spend the rest of their lives wearing masks. In fact outside the HN bubble in many areas people have already stopped. We're all going to be exposed multiple times throughout our lives no matter what. Masks can only slightly delay that at best.
Instead of fighting a futile battle by trying to prevent exposure we should instead accept that everyone will be exposed and try to maximize their odds of survival. That means encouraging eligible people to get vaccinated, and take other steps to mitigate co-morbid conditions.
[citation needed] Studies that don't use a model or beg the question? The Danish one that shows 3% effectiveness? Or the Bangladesh one that shows 11%?
Also the minor detail that countries with masking cultures - like Japan - have relatively excellent Covid stats with minimal deaths.
Honestly, we're through the looking glass if we're even pretending there's any kind of debate about this.
Masks work for adults. Period. There are tens of papers proving that now. Any good faith web search will find them. For every cherry picked paper "proving" they don't there are ten much better designed studies proving they do.
If masks work for adults, they work for kids - not just to cut spread between kids, but also between kids and adults, and especially between kids and vulnerable adults.
The UK has decided to have an outbreak of political psychosis over this, and there are already significant - double digit - percentages of both teachers and kids off sick with Covid in many schools.
Risks to kids are relatively insignificant compared to the trauma of lost school friends, lost hours from school, lost relatives and - in too many cases - lost parents.
The promotion of irrational and human-hostile anti-masker anti-vaxxer nonsense really needs to stop.
I'm not sure how "we're through the looking glass" because there is still debate on the issue, the Atlantic article lays out pretty strong evidence to suggest there is at the very least still plenty of room for debate. Further I don't understand how debating issues is "human-hostile" as you put it. All public measures should continuously be up for debate.
