A room full of people when regulations in most states require reduced capacity indoors?
Don’t be ridiculous. Obviously it was at reduced capacity in accordance with the health guidelines. I think there were 50 people when the shul held 250.
Also, if the virus is transmitted via aerosols and not just large droplets, the masks would’ve become useless by Yishtabach as breath escaping the increasingly saturated masks became well mixed into the room air.
It’s mostly transmitted by large droplets. Aerosol transmission isn’t nearly as common. Sure it’s possible, but still a low enough chance to risk it.
He said hatzolah almost was called on Yom Kippur.
Read our follow up conversation. There are very very few people who have such difficulty with masks that they cannot wear them. Those people should stay away from others. For everyone else, the issue is just being uncomfortable.
The level of protection given by a mask for the wearer or others around the wearer is largely unknown, especially in non-clinical settings.
It’s more well known than you are choosing to acknowledge. Like I said before, there isn’t a legitimate health department in the world today who says not to wear masks. If I have a question in halacha, I ask a Rov and don’t question his reasoning. If I have a question about health, I ask a doctor. In this case, the doctors are saying “Wear a mask”.