What I don’t really understand about this debate is how CEV people could feel safe in a shop if everyone is wearing a mask but unsafe if they are not when rates are so high. Masks might slightly reduce the risk of transmission in that scenario but there is still a significant risk of catching covid if you are out and about at the moment regardless of whether people are wearing a mask. If you absolutely cannot afford to catch covid indoor public places are not currently safe. For most people the risk of getting seriously ill from covid is now very low due to vaccines or age but if for some reason the vaccine doesn’t work or you can’t have it but are vulnerable cloth masks are really unlikely to be the difference between being “safe” or not. Local rates seems a much better indicator of safety.
I also don’t really understand the comments about masks preventing rates spiralling and long covid. Rates are spiralling with a mask mandate in place. There is no reason to think that rates will rise to a lower peak with masks than without them. It may be a slower increase in case numbers with masks but there’s little evidence of that either. And people not wearing masks in supermarkets is highly unlikely to cause a major spike in cases in children and therefore long covid - children are much more likely to catch it in school and it’s highly likely that most children will catch it at some point anyway regardless of masks because most of them won’t be vaccinated soon.
It’s now estimated that 27% of the population have had covid and rates have increased every time we come out of lockdown despite masks which suggests to me that people are really overestimating the positive impact of masks in shops.