Fall of the Fomites?

I am a bit surprised (only a bit) that there hasn't been more comment on what now appears to be a major change in the 'official' understanding of how Covid-19 transmission occurs (https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/oct/05/did-early-focus-on-hand-washing-and-not-masks-aid-spread-of-covid-19-coronavirus). When the virus first hit UK shores we were bombarded with messages about hand washing (including how many verses of 'Happy Birthday to You' you should sing). There were record sales of (and efforts put into making) hand-sanitiser. Anti-bacterial (although it's a virus) soap was much deployed and people were given instructions to deep-clean rooms, especially the fomites. Fomites, just in case you haven't some across the term, is the name given to items that we frequently touch (like door handles, taps and computer keyboards). We were also told to avoid touching our eyes but were advised that wearing a face-mask was futile or even counterproductive. I appreciate that the pandemic was a new disease and these recommendations were best guesses (probably based on more limited exposures to MERS and SARS). I seem to remember, however, that people who suggested that Covid-19 could be spread (like the Common cold and Seasonal Influenza) by aerosol transmission, as people in close proximity talked and sang were regarded as 'oddballs'. It is now pretty clear that the 'oddballs' were largely right, as most transmission occurs in the air we breathe out. Hand washing and fomite cleaning are of lesser importance (although they are useful additional actions). Social distancing and the wearing of face-masks are in. I appreciate that the transmission of messages to the general population often requires simplification but there did seem a tendency, at least in the early stages of the pandemic, to convert what were guesses into facts! Perhaps the people who warned about the possibility of aerosol transmission should be given more credit?