It generally isn't the scientists and physicians dismissing homemade masks. It's the non-scientific skeptics.

Unsure About Actually Wearing a Face Mask? Here’s How (and Why) to Do It is from the Cleveland Clinic, a well-respected research institution in the US.

If you take nothing else away from this,

“The coronavirus can spread among people who are less than 6 feet apart, whether that’s by talking to one another, coughing or sneezing,” Dr. Hamilton explains. “This holds true even if none of those people notice symptoms commonly reported with COVID-19, like fever, shortness of breath or coughing.”


Dr. Hamilton says a cloth mask will not prevent you from breathing in respiratory droplets that carry a virus, like COVID-19. But it will help to protect others from you if you happen to be infected, with or without symptoms. Furthermore, cloth masks help to reinforce social distancing and good cough etiquette, which ultimately will help to slow how far the virus spreads.

Cloth masks can also prevent you from touching your face, and can be a visual reminder to practice social distancing, Dr. Hamilton adds.

No one has said they completely prevent COVID-19, but they affect our behavior to help avoid it, they may slow it down, and they serve as important reminders on several levels.