system
A chat on subreddit /r/NoStupidQuestions
human
No.  The medical community has been using masks as personal protective equipment (PPE) for over 100 years, and the reason is because they do protect you and they don't get you or your patients sick.  Surgical masks in particular are best for protecting against diseases primarily transmitted via droplets; different equipment is needed for diseases primarily transmitted via aerosol.

When mask mandates went into effect, the anti-maskers suddenly claimed that masks don't work and that wearing them for hours every day will kill you, despite the fact that loads of people have been doing just that every day for their jobs for decades with 0 health issues.

It's as asinine as politicians who make false claims about video games causing violence.  They've been popular for 50 years, we know how they work by now: just because the politicians discovered them yesterday doesn't mean that's how reality works.
gpt
The funny part is we've seen doctors, especially surgeons, wearing masks for generations and the idiots think it's only for Halloween. 

My uncle was a painter, think industrial not Picasso, he's worn masks for hours at work for 30+ years. He laughed at the cry babies that lamented the difficulty of wearing a mask.