If herpes is so common/ contagious, and condoms may not protect, how is it that brothel workers do a quick visual check, and nothing more, and im yet to ever hear of, or ever read a review stating, someone went to a brothel and now they have herpes?

The biological, behavioral and other reasons why some STIs are more frequent and risky than others is very complex, not possible to accurately respond in the word limits for HealthTap. It varies widely between all STIs and herpes is on the low risk side for any one exposure. Genital herpes indeed is common, but 90% of the time cannot be transmitted -- i.e. not very contagious most of the time.

It is common to be a Herpes carrier without being actively infectious, and outbreaks can be pretty uncomfortable, which would tend to preclude sex. Reviews and reports are going to be unreliable since there is a reluctance to report, exposure tracing is difficult, and symptoms are highly variable.