This is an interesting article: https://www.cidrap.umn.edu/news-perspective/2021/10/commentary-what-can-masks-do-part-1-science-behind-covid-19-protection

Early in the pandemic I wrote a white paper for my job about infectious diseases and HVAC. You can predict the number of new infections in a space with a fairly simply equation, though some of the parameters are hard to nail down. The variables are the number of people shedding virus, the total number of people, the number of infectious doses added to the air per unit time, the exposure time, respiration rate, and volume of fresh air.

Infections go up with more infectious, increased exposure time, increased respiration rate. Infections go down with increased volume of fresh air. The reason they haven't been able to pinpoint many, if any, infections occurring outside is because the volume of fresh air is high and exposure time is low. On the other hand, a crowded, popular bar is a really likely place to catch the bug.

Masks come into play by limiting (1) how much virus an infected person can shed and (2) how much virus a non-infected person inhales. We can see in the chart in this paper that there is some exposure time where you're not likely to be infected: 15 minutes with no masking. If everyone is wearing cloth masks, you gain a little extra time: 26 minutes. With every increased level of filtration, you get a little more time where exposure is unlikely to infect you.

This is interesting because it's additional evidence that public health officials have been lying pretty constantly. From the initial you don't need a mask to the let's use cloth masks to masking kids in schools that some places have insisted on this year. A cloth mask might be reasonable protection for a quick trip to the grocery store or other intermittent exposures, but it's completely useless for going to work. If you're going to be in a building for hours at a time, you might as well not bother - it's just theater to make you feel good about going to work/school, unless everyone is wearing N95 or greater masks.

I'd also point out that you are also continuously fucked by this and every other aerosol based virus when you are spending most of your life in crowded indoor spaces. It's expensive to mitigate this risk; most buildings offer only minimal ventilation (and many will shut off ventilation entirely) and shoddy air filtration. You have no way of knowing how a building is operated, so you are really just crossing your fingers that your employer (or their landlord) is doing the bare minimum.

I was trying to find a good clip from Adam Ruins Everything about the misconception of air-born disease spreading ....
I think you nailed it fairly well though ....

I've often said that eventually being in an enclosed space with others would render infection ....
1) The volume of the virus is greater over time  2) Eventually it's on you, your clothes, hair, and mask
Unless it's an OXYGEN mask, it doesn't matter in the long run for extended periods of time ...

Good article, man ...