>no, that's exactly the misunderstanding that leads to such security theater. distance does nearly all the work. a mask adds marginal benefit when distancing.

FWIW...

'Yuen Kwok-yung, a professor of infectious disease at the University of Hong Kong, has advised his government that all social distancing can be relaxed – but only if people wear masks in enclosed spaces such as on trains and at work, and that no food or drink are consumed at concerts and cinemas.'

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/may/22/why-we-might-n...

(Yuen Kwok-yung is one of, if not the leading infectious disease specialist in Asia among other things, and has his name on many peer reviewed scientific papers.)