@Cris Wearing non-medical masks mostly means that if you are sick yourself, you do not spread your virus as strongly to others. It also might lessen what you get in, but that effect is probably small and fraught with the risks you mention (e.g. through touching). The main effect of masks is that with less virus being spread by sick people (who may be unaware that they are spreading) less other people get infected and when they do get infected, they get less sick because they get infected with a lot smaller dose of virus. The amount of virus you're infected determines how ill you will get. Very, very small doses of virus might even work a bit like a vaccine (you get exposed, your immune system reacts and learns faster than the virus can multiply). This is one of the reasons the death rate is less than it was. Social distancing and masks does not prevent people form getting sick, but when they do they get less sick as the immune system has more time to react if they do.
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@Cris Wearing non-medical masks mostly means that if you are sick yourself, you do not spread your virus as strongly to others. It also might lessen what you get in, but that effect is probably small and fraught with the risks you mention (e.g. through touching). The main effect of masks is that with less virus being spread by sick people (who may be unaware that they are spreading) less other people get infected and when they do get infected, they get less sick because they get infected with a lot smaller dose of virus. The amount of virus you're infected determines how ill you will get. Very, very small doses of virus might even work a bit like a vaccine (you get exposed, your immune system reacts and learns faster than the virus can multiply). This is one of the reasons the death rate is less than it was. Social distancing and masks does not prevent people form getting sick, but when they do they get less sick as the immune system has more time to react if they do.