Every scientific study done on prevention of spread of viral respiratory infections using masks (like the cold and flu), prior to Covid, said that masks made no negligible difference. It was literally the "science changed" meme right when Covid hit, and suddenly masks worked. It's because humans give off different sized water droplets, and below a certain size, they aren't pulled to the ground by gravity and can remain in the air for hours, these particles can flow through the spaces of a mask, and just a single droplet is large enough to contain enough virions to cause infection. However, masks do prevent larger droplets from passing through, which is why surgeons wear masks to prevent infection on patients (via spit). However, again, these droplets are so large they're removed from the air via gravity.

The entire scientific community "knew" this prior to Covid. It goes to show how easily doctors, like everyone else, can be brainwashed on medical knowledge. Still, there were a lot of doctors speaking up about this, but they were pretty much all censored. Many spoke up on actual free speech sites and conspiracy theory forums, bringing up these earlier mask studies.

In any case, I hope (and assume) you changed which sites you get your information from, and better learn who you can trust.