Does that matter? I thought the point of having the entire public wear masks is to stop the wearer's breath from spreading germs, not stop the wearer from coming in contact with germs.
Obviously medical professionals or other people who come in close contact would be better off using medical-grade masks in a hygienic and consistent way- but for the majority of grocery shoppers and such, I thought the purpose was simply reducing your ability to spread the germs.
How does it not matter? If their breath contains something that shouldn't be spread and they're actively touching the damp mask containing it and then touching other things, how does that not spread it?
you said that if people touch their mask or adjust it, "I don't see how they're achieving much more than safety theater that way." Covid is primarily airborne. If you prevent your breath and your coughs and your speech from spreading the germ and making it airborne, you're accomplishing a lot. And I feel like "damp mask" is a bit of an exaggeration. A hell of a lot more than "safety theater".
Obviously medical professionals or other people who come in close contact would be better off using medical-grade masks in a hygienic and consistent way- but for the majority of grocery shoppers and such, I thought the purpose was simply reducing your ability to spread the germs.