...only hears the original guidance from the CDC. It's hard to say if this person would have adopted mask usage early on if the guidance originally said, "wear a mask!" I guess we'll never know.

And no, I don't think people think the mask is going to kill them, but I do think there are some valid concerns about masks causing people to touch their faces more often, and unless washed frequently, there probably is some slight inherent risk of respiratory distress resulting from wearing the same mask. But mostly, I think some people believe that masks are not effective because that's the first thing that they heard. Oh, and then there were the riots and protests where many people went unmasked, and the media completely glossed over that. That didn't help.