It would be interesting to see the data of which is more effective. I'm currently biased towards believing that masks were highly effective and SIP orders mostly are not (because people still leave for groceries, for example) .
If we create the false dichotomy of Masks vs SIP I would recommend Masks
Stay at home orders work because they minimize contact someone has with others.
Sure, people might still go to the groceries or other essential tasks. Once or twice a week. But if they're otherwise obeying the order and staying at home then just by not travelling to and from the office, going on recreational walks/drives/etc, and in general being isolated with a few people is obviously going to drastically limit the spread. It's not going to cut it down to 0, but it's still far less than the other extreme of living life normally and interacting with random people and surfaces daily.
Why are you even trying to create a false dichotomy? Just stay at home and wear a mask, ffs. It's really not that hard.
Saving lives should not be this grand political issue it's become in the US. It's objectively very simple. Limit contact and limit spread, and you'll have fewer cases. You limit contact by having people stay at home, and you limit spread by having people wear masks. This isn't rocket science or anything.
> Saving lives should not be this grand political issue it's become in the US.
It is politicized whenever there is a strong disparity of benefits and costs... It's primarily the old who benefit and primarily the young who suffer by closing down the economy
They exact same disparity exists elsewhere in the world but the politicization is largely an American phenomena, so it's not the disparity by itself to blame.
Shelter in place works everywhere except in America, which is always special.
And if people go to buy food, that totally negates lack of contact everywhere else, including restaurants, concerts, offices, schools, sport clubs and so on.
If we create the false dichotomy of Masks vs SIP I would recommend Masks