Others have already pointed that mortality rates do not reveal the full picture. There are various factors that affect the mortality rates in different countries – masks being only one of those factors. There are more critical factors at play such as age, obesity, co-morbidities, access to affordable health care, etc.
While masks are shown to slow the spread of infection, ultimately the larger problem with handling the COVID-19 pandemic was the lockdowns and isolation. Lockdowns and isolating individuals definitely helped reduce the spread of the infection and probably saved a lot of lives but prolonged isolation actually reduced the overall immunity in our population. Human immune systems require constant exposure to all sorts of germs to keep it humming along. Isolation does the exact opposite and while it is useful in the short term, prolonged 'clean room' type conditions created due to isolation and lockdowns are harmful.
While masks are shown to slow the spread of infection, ultimately the larger problem with handling the COVID-19 pandemic was the lockdowns and isolation. Lockdowns and isolating individuals definitely helped reduce the spread of the infection and probably saved a lot of lives but prolonged isolation actually reduced the overall immunity in our population. Human immune systems require constant exposure to all sorts of germs to keep it humming along. Isolation does the exact opposite and while it is useful in the short term, prolonged 'clean room' type conditions created due to isolation and lockdowns are harmful.