True believers in the use of masks against COVID-19 have pointed to Hong Kong to “prove” their case. For example: https://www.contagionlive.com/news/hong-kong-masks-independently-significant-coronavirus-intervention
In a press release, Sunny Wong, MD, associate professor, Department of Medicine and Therapeutics, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, noted the particular success of Hong Kong in the pandemic despite many social distancing measures being voluntary.
“Despite [Hong Kong’s] proximity to mainland China, its infection rate of COVID-19 is generally modest with on 1,110 cases to-date. This correlates with an almost ubiquitous use of face masks in the city (up to 98.8 percent by respondents in a survey). Similar patterns are seen in other Asian areas, such as Taiwan, Thailand and Malaysia,” Wong said.
Though “use of face masks” has indeed been “almost ubiquitous” in Hong Kong, it evidently has not stopped the spread of COVID-19, according to the South China Morning Post.
Article link: https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/health-environment/article/3092611/coronavirus-schools-suspended-hong-kong-over
It gives me no pleasure to repeat what all the randomized controlled tests tell us: that masks and respirators don’t prevent transmission of respiratory viruses. To keep insisting that they do, just because the CDC (now) says so, is irresponsible, to say the least.