Masks work

This looks like the most current and definitive work on masking in preventing COVID and other respiratory diseases.

"Respirators" are best, followed by medical masks, etc. 

https://journals.asm.org/doi/10.1128/cmr.00124-23

I've seen from the very beginning a strong pushback on masks, distancing, and vaccines since the beginning of COVID-19.

Among people who vote Democratic, this is normally construed as coming from the right, and especially the MAGA populist (and fascist) right.

However, it permeates many elements of the left too, people vote for smaller (and in US likely unelectable) parties especially included.

You could consider this "war against the science" coming the "populist left and right."

But interesting, major governments including the US and UK pushed against many measures constantly.  This was especially true at the state level, such as in Texas where I live the governor attempted to overrule local masking laws.

Newspapers continually whined about not putting children back in schools, saying the science didn't support keeping them out (it did).  Ultimately it was not Trump but Biden who prematurely declared COVID over, leading to 100,000's of thousands of additional deaths in the "second wave."

So while institutions have been strong for vaccination (nothing wrong with that, say the oligarchs and corporations, as well as scientists) they have opposed in varying degrees other public health measures that are now fairly well understood (despite endless mis-interpretations of early studies being endlessly circulated in social media) to be effective.

So the establishment has never been speaking with one voice and with the science either, including the media.

Seeing this vast picture of dissent against science, much from the establishment itself (though it constantly memory-holes mistakes) makes it all look very intelligence/government coordinated.

Which could be exactly true on the "populist" left and right too.

On the left, it adds to further population culling (since they don't reproduce as much either).  It prevents left-liberal re-unification.

On the right, it adds another "galvanizing myth" to the pile.