There is increasing evidence that the SARS-2 coronavirus is transmitted, at least in indoor settings, not only by droplets but also by smaller aerosols. https://academic.oup.com/cid/advance-article/doi/10.1093/cid/ciaa939/5867798
Over 90% of aerosols penetrate or bypass the mask and fill a medium-sized room within minutes. https://bmjopen.bmj.com/content/5/4/e006577
The WHO admitted to the BBC that its June 2020 mask policy update was due not to new evidence but “political lobbying”: “We had been told by various sources WHO committee reviewing the evidence had not backed masks but they recommended them due to political lobbying. This point was put to WHO who did not deny.” (D. Cohen, BBC Medical Corresponent). https://twitter.com/deb_cohen/status/1282244773030633473 [This tweet has since been moved]
To date, the only randomized controlled trial (RCT) on face masks against SARS-CoV-2 infection in a community setting found no statistically significant benefit. However, three major journals refused to publish this study, delaying its publication by several months. https://swprs.org/the-suppressed-danish-mask-study/
An analysis by the US CDC found that 85% of people infected with the new coronavirus reported wearing a mask “always” (70.6%) or “often” (14.4%). Compared to the control group of uninfected people, always wearing a mask did not reduce the risk of infection. https://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/volumes/69/wr/pdfs/mm6936a5-H.pdf#page=4
Researchers from the University of Minnesota found that the infectious dose of SARS-CoV-2 is just 300 virions (viral particles), whereas a single minute of normal speaking may generate more than 750,000 virions, making cloth face masks unlikely to prevent an infection. https://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMc2030886
Many states that introduced mandatory face masks on public transport and in shops in spring, such as Hawaii, California, Argentina, Spain, France, Japan and Israel, saw a strong increase in infections from July onwards, indicating a low effectiveness of mask policies. https://twitter.com/yinonw/status/1321177359601393664 AND https://rationalground.com/post-thanksgiving-mask-charts-still-no-evidence-that-masks-work/
In the US state of Kansas, the 90 counties without mask mandates had lower coronavirus infection rates than the 15 counties with mask mandates. To hide this fact, the Kansas health department tried to manipulate the official statistics and data presentation. https://sentinelksmo.org/more-deception-kdhe-hid-data-to-justify-mask-mandate/
Contrary to common belief, studies in hospitals found that the wearing of a medical mask by surgeons during operations didn’t reduce post-operative bacterial wound infections in patients. https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/BF01658736 https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2493952/pdf/annrcse01509-0009.pdf
During the notorious 1918 influenza pandemic, the use of cloth face masks among the general population was widespread and in some places mandatory, but they made no difference. https://www.washingtonpost.com/history/2020/04/02/everyone-wore-masks-during-1918-flu-pandemic-they-were-useless/ [Personal opinion: In WWI, there was the wide spread use of various gas attacks, which were chemical or biological weapons. 1918 was the year WWI ended. With all these gas attacks, and troops going home, wounded, at least (IDK how well they were decontaminated, for those who died), was the Spanish Flu brought on by all these gas attacks?]