Imo the average person's view of the pandemic was/is mostly shaped by government propaganda, first that COVID was a threat to take seriously and later that COVID was over. If the government were broadcasting "hey by the way 50% of people who contract COVID experience symptoms past 18 months", I imagine we'd see less dipshits pretending it's not real.

That said, there's definitely an element of individual stubbornness. Most liberals I talked to just before mask requirements were removed would try to say some bullshit statement like "WELL WE CAN'T LIVE LIKE THIS FOREVER!", but when pressed on the fact that their lives weren't actually interrupted anymore with schools, workplaces, restaurants etc already open again, they would bashfully admit that they just didn't like wearing masks. At any rate, I certainly wouldn't lose any sleep if the people in my life who refuse to mask or test drowned in their own lung fluid tomorrow.

So, I wore a mask for my protection and for the protection of others. And I maybe tooting my own horn, but I feel like others only did so because I was so fervent.

I had been following the situation in China starting in the last couple weeks of December. I dunno if those videos at the beginning were real or not, but I didn't see many people refuting them, source wise. The videos of when they started welding people into their Apts, and dissapearing the citizen journalists that had taken video of inside the hospitals had me on edge. When the videos started comming out of south korea and iran, and the first cases started popping up in california, I started making preparations. By the time it really hit europe and new york started getting bad, I was as prepared as I could be, considering the circumstances. I made sure family members had gone to get n95 masks from home depot, and were loaded up on hand sanitizer and alcohol wipes, before they sold out, but, in my opinion, they only did it so I would stop hounding them.

I was considered an essential worker, and the industry I worked for ran through lock down. The majority of the people in my office would continue to go to meetings, internal and external. Only me, and one other person (i think) took it seriously. I live in a deep red state and even the company owners were pretty skeptical of the whole situation. I think i was lucky the owners came from california (so they were used to being a little more sensitive to other people's beliefs) and were educated enough to not completely blow it off. Company covid policy was enacted. It was reasonable and was actually pretty strict if you got sick, but I honestly think that the only reason people in the office put on their masks as much as they did, was because they didn't want to hear me complain when they went to clear their throat.

I continued to wear my mask for almost a full year after the mandates ended, due to temporary health issues, everyone else dropped them at the first chance they got. I still carry a mask with me, just in case I need it, though. I'm not the only one that deserves consideration, and if I wander into a place where someone needs protection from me, I am prepared to give it.

So how many people wore a mask because of fear of repercussions? Im going with 97%... although it does occur to me that I'm still writing this, mostly, from the same self oriented view as all the rest of those people that wore masks out of fear.