I did not need my government, and certainly NOT the late as ever the WHO, to advise me to wear mask, I'd been wearing a mask whenever I'm outside since returning home from Chiang Mai (Thailand) after spending Christmas and New Year with my brother , his daughter and his Thai wife. I was actively telling my friends to wear a mask whenever they go out against the advice given by the government of my country, that 'Healthy don't need masks' campaign and mantra they'd kept repeating.
I thought it was wrong to advise people against wearing masks, they should have instead said that wearing of masks outside was up to individual's choice, till it was made mandatory sometime in May IIRC. It simply made sense to wear a mask while outside for two reason, first as stated, to protect others from droplets should I cough or sneeze, and secondly, to prevent touching our nose and mouth with dirty hands as the mask gets in the way. The reason, I and many others had surmised, behind the dumb campaign of not wearing masks outside was due to the fact that there was a worldwide shortage of masks, the government here couldn't advocate for the wearing when it doesn't have enough masks to go around (the government here also took its cue from the compromised WHO which, in my opinion, had given terribad advice at the onset of the outbreak (not advising countries to close their borders to China being one of the many), and Tedros is in the CCP's or Xi Jinping's deep pocket (don't flame me, just a suspicion). The government in my neck of the woods has, of course, did an about face in May and has made the wearing of masks mandatory, but not before a tremendous amount of health, social and financial damage had been inflicted on us.
A couple of days back, I had viewed a YT post of this lady who's supposed to be a doctor, she had refused to wear a mask before going into a supermarket stating that masks do not protect anyone and that her rights or freedom of choice were being encroached, I don't understand this. It made sense (common sense actually) to wear masks while outside to protect others, and ourselves from infection, why this resistance? I'm from Asia, I'm sorry if it seems alien to some, or all of you guys, that something like wearing a face masks to prevent infections is being treated like that.
Edit - Oh yeah, since the mandatory mask requirement, the availability of good quality masks here in my neck of the woods has increased, to the point where such masks are quite easily available. I've gotten at least two boxes (50 each) and plan to get more as I intend to wear a mask whenever I go out till......well, end-of-the-year at the very earliest. Who knows, I may very well decide that I should wear a mask whenever I go out from now on....