Safety googles that are spray painted black. That way you can't see the news.
Seriously though, social distancing and avoiding crowds is #1. Get a basic cloth mask so you don't get thrown out of the grocery store, don't spend more time there than you have to, and avoid any other crowds etc. Stick to only seeing family and friends and keep your social bubbles low and even then practice decent social distancing. And wash your hands.
At the very start of all this when we did not know how bad this virus is, the full lockdown and restrictions made sense. Now, it's mostly all arbitrary. The virus does not care if a social setting is "official" or not. Being in a classroom with 30 kids or at a casino is not safer than being at home with 5 family members just because those settings are "officially allowed".
Of course this all changes if you are in a hot spot where they are reporting 10's of cases daily. In that case you really should get yourself a properly fitted medical style mask like a N95 or similar, and also a face shield can't hurt and you probably should actually avoid even going out with friends and family, and use a grocery delivery service and sanitize everything.
I totally agree with you, but on your last comment pertaining to hot spots and N95s still may be overkill for most people, unless they're in tight quarters or have lots of contact with others. It goes back to your first point. If you live in a hot spot, you should be avoiding others/keeping distance first and rely on the mask only as a method to mitigate risk.
I shouldn't even read social media posts because of the misinformed people out there. There are a bunch of people who say, "only 30 out of 100k people are infected...that means 99,970 people DIDN'T GET COVID". They repeat and retweet those false articles claiming the CDC stated that 80% of people infected always wore a mask. What they don't understand is that only 30 were reported and the daily number is higher, or possibly the 30 was an anomaly if the virus made it into an assisted living facility or prison or office. In other words, community spread is one thing, but details make a difference on how much in the wild it actually is. Non-maskers seem to think that masks are all about the wearer, but mask wearing ultimately protects OTHERS more than it does the wearer because it catches and diverts aerosols. If you have COVID,
you should be wearing a mask to minimize spread.
As for wearing a mask for protection, I always go back to my point that aerosols can best be visualized by thinking about people who vape or smoke around you. If you think about walking by someone who is vaping or smoking....if you can smell vanilla or whatever stupid stuff they're breathing in....or cigarette smoke they exhaled, you're essentially breathing the same air that was already in their lungs. So if you're wearing a mask and can smell things around you clearly, you likely have too thin of a mask or are dealing with air leaks. Real world effort, benefit here is going to be minimal at best. A 3-layer cloth mask is going to be all most people need and 80% effective will likely be enough protection if you follow the social distancing recommendations and don't dine indoors with no mask, share enclosed car rides with strangers, etc. This is why not only is it crucial to have a good mask, but to practice social distancing in public WITH the mask. The more air circulation, the better....
Having a plastic barrier is good for spray of aerosols to your eyes, but may actually encourage more recycling of the same air between your face and the inside of the mask. A mouth/nose covering is probably more helpful.
Once again....mask wearing is important, but keeping distance and not being in enclosed spaces where you breathe the same air as many others is key.
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