You might recall that, early in the plague, the general view was that covid mostly spread via droplets. Which common masks filter. So the recommendations met the knowledge at the time.
It really wasn't until the mutations came along that were much more contagious and aerosolized that we began to understand the spread more. And how many of the masks we wore were useless.
You know this, I bet.
Why people act like masks were a major infringement of liberty is beyond me. But that is another story.