[tomp]

If the mask stops some droplets (which it obviously does, as it gets wet over time) and some of those droplets carry the virus, then obviously the mask protects against the virus - not 100%, but some percent (just like condoms!).

[TomMarius]

Nope. It protects you from said droplets, not from the virus, which it is incapable to protect you from, unlike a FFP3.

[amanaplanacanal]

But as far as we know, the bare virus does not travel through the air, it only travels in droplets. Although there is some disagreement on how large those droplets are.

[P-ala-din]

I feel like I have a wrong model of how things work.

I'm thinking that for each virus there is a chance that it will infect a cell. The higher the viral load, the higher the number of chances that you will get infected.

a lower number of droplets -> lower viral load -> less chance to be infected.

[tomp]

What is the physical explanation behind this fact, and how come normal masks protect others if a carrier wears it?