I would imagine if the flight is 5 hours long and the eating time is only 0.5 hours, then there would only be 0.5 hours of breathing virus into the air than 5 hours of it. That being said, yes, most would be unmasked at that time and likely to breathe it in, I guess I just see overall as limiting the total amount of virus breathed into the air by requiring masks most of the time.
Half an hour is long enough to get infected, we know this.
If masks work, they work on a mechanistic, physical, level. They filter air, and if you use your masks wrong, or take them off, they stop filtering air.
But if you look at how people are actually using their masks, they pay zero attention to the mechanics of it, and 100% attention to the appearance of it.
Someone who wants to wear an N-95 mask for the duration of the entire flight, and who won't remove it for eating, understands the mechanics of how they work. That behaviour is not theatre.
Someone who wears whatever because they're told to, crams it in their pocket now and then, removes it while eating, and still believes they work, do not in fact understand how masks work. And whoever is making rules and mask mandates that allow for this behaviour also clearly do not understand how masks work. It's all theatre. It's masks as make-belief lucky rabbit's foot talismans, and yet we're supposed to believe that the rules are based in science.
I still don't see it as all theatre—maybe I just see it more like a probability function. 100% of people won't use them properly, no matter how much instruction or how foolproof the design is (because one way to fix improper usage is to improve designs instead of blaming the user). Will 50%? Maybe 10%? OK, if 10% use them 100% properly, what if another 30% use them at 50% effectiveness? I'm making up these percentages but just showing that I don't believe it's all theatre if not 100% of the people comply 100% perfectly.
So yes, people can get infected at half an hour. Are their odds much higher to get infected at 5 hours than 0.5 hours? I'd assume yes.
Heck, even people who wear it over their mouth but don't cover their noses, yes, they're potentially leaking covid out of their nose and breathing it in thru their nose. But if they cough, I imagine a percentage of the covid comes out their mouth and gets trapped in the mask...even despite them not wearing it 100% properly.
I'm saying that some of it may be theatre, or maybe much of it is (by theatre being ineffective but trying to appear effective), but I don't think it's all theatre.
