Why is it that the Surgeon General says that masks are ineffective at protecting the general public, but are critical to health care workers?

Was explained by a Doctor on Fox news this morning. Most of the masks being worn as you see above are the el-cheapo paper masks and do not fit or seal against the skin properly (picture above). The mask that health workers wear is of a specific medical nomenclature, which they mentioned but I forget what they said. Second, the medical workers are trained in the proper wear, removal and disposal of the mask and most Americans are not.....there is a max length time you can wear at which point the mask has to be disposed of. Third, masks only offer health care workers less than 100% protection unless they wear a respirator type mask and also have the eyes covered and are in a sealed suit. Fourth, far easier to train the public to regularly wash the hands and not touch the face with the hands. Which they found when joe public wears a mask and gloves they are far more likely to cause the infection and which some mask wearers do repeatedly as they do not wash their hands as much and touch their face more OR contaminate themsleves with improper removal of the gloves and/or mask. Fifth, mask and gloves give the non-medical user a false sense of security and they wash their hands less and touch their face more.....than without them.....roughly same as previous point. So that was all the Doctor covered that I remember.

Probably because the vast majority of healthcare workers are trained to use and then dispose of them (or properly disinfect them), whereas the public at large will keep wearing the same one over and over (without replacing or properly disinfecting them). That's all about proper use and disposal. Additionally, it may be to prevent public demand for masks creating a shortage of masks for healthcare workers who are more directly at risk of being exposed.

He's a little mixed up.