For the author: The solution is to ask for their sources - not to speculate that it’s all a sham (while conveniently also not providing any data to back up such a claim.)

Meanwhile a single search pulls a possible source for the 80% figure:

https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/science/science-br...

But talking about that source is inconvenient to the author because it provides ample support over a range of real world and laboratory studies (with both types demonstrating the 80% figure)

But even without looking deeply into this - what motive would the CDC have for making everyone run around in little fabric masks versus the very well known disinformation efforts.

At this stage of the pandemic: the science is abundantly clear - masks work.