Trust in mainstream media was at all time lows yet even many people in red states put on the masks like sheep and even continue to do so now. Many of these people had already tuned out the mockingbird media so I think part of their reasoning for the psyop was to pull many people back into this media matrix, watching for updates about a complete hoax and then getting them to modify their behaviors based on this. And then also it would demoralize the people who still refused to watch mainstream media and who refused masks because they have to still deal with their lives being made into a living hell for something they know is a hoax.