Masks are not there to prevent you from getting sick....But what masks do very well is preventing someone who IS sick that their germs from getting OUT INTO THE PUBLIC.
No one argues this. You continue to bang that drum.
If you're directing this at me. here are my concerns.
Problem one - cloth mask. A man or woman walks into your office that you visit every day (really risky btw) occupied by 12 people. They are wearing a cloth mask, not an N95. That person can still walk up to a mirror, breathe, and fog it up. MEANING, the mask isn't stopping their water droplets. They are airborne. Cloth masks don't really stop that COVID person putting COVID via air droplets into the air. It might slow it down a tad (i.e., how far it travels). Your mask you're wearing won't prevent you from breathing that in, as we all agree.
How long does the COVID stay airborne he or she emitted through their cloth mask? We don't know. If it can travel 6 feet, what does that mean really?
What happens after it travels 6 feet? Does it fall to the floor and die? Does it hover in the air at 6 feet?
Problem two - You're in a building that has air conditioning, I'm sure. Which recirculates the air. Joe Blow I have COVID is wearing his cloth mask, exhales and COVID goes airborne. He happens to be near a return which sucks the air (and his COVID droplets) in, then the fans in the HVAC system push it back out through vents...maybe one above your desk.
Problem three - Joe Blow I have COVID's mask doesn't prevent (as SoOp has pointed out) the virus escaping above or to the side of the mask. Guaranteed even those wearing an N95 mask aren't fitting them correctly and if they have COVID it is being pushed out into the air.
People are putting TOO much faith into masks.
Do I believe they stop the airborne spread going FURTHER? Yep. Makes all the logical sense in the world. But scientists haven't given us a definitive answer on how long it can live airborne, how long it hangs in the air, what happens after it travels 6 feet. A mask is a preventative measure only.
If I were take the big risk you take by going to an office every day with 12 people with central recirculated air, I wouldn't work without a properly fitted N95. Keeping people at 12 feet of distance when you're in an air conditioned office space may have no effect. Even then, given we don't know enough about COVID, how it spreads, and the efficacy of masks...the real, only true preventive measure is to stay the hell at home.