The masks don't stop arisol unless you are wearing an n95 or above mask. So how are they helping? It's not that they aren't 100% effective. It's that they are so ineffective that pulling out as a method of birth control is an apt comparission. I would go even farther and say that masks might be furthering the spread by making people feel more comfertable than they should and as a result engaging in behavior that they shouldn't. Mind you the death rate for covid is around 1.3% of known cases. Known being the operative word there.