Stephen Fry, on QI, who could not tell a lie:

said that the way face masks work, when they work, is to prevent people rubbing their mouths/noses & maybe eyes. After shaking hands &/or opening doors, handrails, loose food etc. It reduces the transference of whatever.

And the BBC prog did advocate the washing of hands more often during a pandemic/scare. A figure of five or more times was quoted.

Another tactic which IS done, is to inoculate key personnel, like medical workers, shop assistance etc. If vaccines have been found/made. The transmission rate, even inoculating key personnel, is probably quicker than the 4 months incubation time of novel vaccines.

Money is another vector for transmission. Indeed one old lady I recorded said her doctor (say in the 20/30s) would be payed by boiling the coins first and only he would remove them from the pan. Clever doctor or common practice in the days before the NHS?
Irene Adey talking of 11 shillings boiled born 1917, she reached 100, about 6 months after the recording.