It was never appropriate for government to lie about masks
Lying is wrong because Scripture prohibits lies. We serve a God who is a God of truth (John 14:6), not lies. Scripture teaches us in John 8:44 that Satan is the father of lies.
In the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic, government officials lied about the effectiveness of face masks, claiming they were not effective at preventing the spread of the disease while securing masks for hospital workers and first responders. Was this right, given the public health emergency we were facing at the time? No, it was not.
I would have been perfectly fine with government impounding masks to reserve for emergency services and taking them off the market by force of law. That would have accomplished the same thing without lying about it. Yes, it would have created a black market, but it would have been honorable. I also find it weak and effeminate that, instead of simply asserting their authority to embargo masks for hospitals and first responders, government authorities lied about masks and falsely claimed they were not effective.
I knew they were lying because when I had a particularly nasty case of influenza in 2018 - before COVID-19 ever existed - the urgent care clinic asked me to wear a mask in the pharmacy when I picked up my TamiFlu prescription. Many others saw through the transparent lies, and were still seeking access to masks.
Lying was wrong primarily because Scripture prohibits lies. Yes, I know there are certain limited exceptions in the Bible where lying is permitted, but we serve a God who is a God of truth (John 14:6), not lies. Scripture teaches us in John 8:44 that Satan is the father of lies.
Lying should be opposed out of respect for authority. When public health authorities openly lie about things like this, it undermines their authority and the trust of the people. I firmly believe that I was more protective of the public health establishment's authority than they were by holding the position that they should tell the truth. The whiplash of changing positions from "masks do not work" to "masks are mandatory" created the anti-mask rabble-rousers by destroying the credibility of public health authorities.
This does not mean we have the "right" to 100% full transparency about every single thing the government does. Transparency is important, but not in the realm of national security. There are rare times when government will need to hide things. There are times when the government needs to lie to our enemies to protect our security. The lies about the effectiveness of masks, however, undermined trust in authority at a time when trust was very much needed, and violated Biblical principles. That should not be defended.