I don't remember if I wore a mask for two hours, but I had to wear a mask & goggles for an extended time while working with asbestos years ago. It was miserable and more than anything else it made me hotter.
I'll see a patient for 45 minutes with my mask. The moment I leave the room, I need to rip my mask off to get a breath of fresh air. My face is covered with sweat, so I have a natural tendency to rub my face the moment the mask comes off. I need to have paper towels outside the room to dry my face so that I don't touch my face. This is for a 30-45 minute period. It's just awful. There is just no way that the average human being is going to put up with that and do it correctly without contaminating themselves and other surfaces. I think that the benefit of the masks more than anything is that it gets people to be more mindful of this disease and pay closer attention to their surroundings. It's a uniform...our COVID-19 uniform, and there is something that can be said in the change behaviors while in uniform. But should we force people into wearing masks? No. I would like to think that we could do our best to convince people that it is a good idea under the right circumstances.