kemajic said:
Is there convincing evidence that the use of masks actually help? Do they block airborne transmission of the virus?
It depends on your willingness to be convinced. Japan, our ally who's constitution mirrors ours, is an island country roughly the size of Montana with 126 million people. They didn't shut down. What they did do is wear masks, shut down their airports for a short time, and ran down cases & quarantined those in contact with covid positives. They got a handle on it fast. To date they have 1646 deaths. We have 218,000 deaths, no plan, and still argue about masks.
Japan's had 4 other viral outbreaks in the last 20 years & has learned how to deal with them. They wear masks in flu season, on the subway, and students even wear them to cover zits. (True story, my friend is a professor in Osaka) South Korea mirrors Japan's results and strategy.