Sorry Pippa but handing the average retard masks and expecting them not to contaminate themselves and everything around is one of them dumbest takes from you yet. Masks are just chin talismans to the untrained person.
There have been multiple post-covid studies showing, adjusting for population density, that states and counties without mask mandates had literally the same infection rate as ones with.
Partly because of how extremely contagious covid is and the other part is wearing PPE properly and effectively is actually hard. It takes some training and constant conscious effort knowing what you're touching on yourself and your environment and all it takes is just one momentary slip to contaminate yourself and others.
The only way to stop illnesses from spreading is to stay home when you're sick but most people don't do that unless they are almost seriously ill.