OK, here's an explanation.
https://www.businessinsider.com/how-...erosols-2020-3
If you read it through you'll see there is still a debate in the scientific community as to how long the live coronavirus particles (or any other virus) do live in the air after they are coughed up or sneezed up by an infected person, and how far they travel. Heavier particles will not be expelled a great distance, they will not stay in the air as long because of gravity, and they will fall to the floor or on objects. Lighter particles are more airborne, they can travel farther and can stay in the air longer. They found coronavirus particles in an air vent in a hospital; it got there through the air!
So if you're hanging out with someone who has the flu, to use your example, and they cough and sneeze, you're at risk of having some of their expelled virus enter through your nose cavity and getting you sick too! You wouldn't even have to hug or kiss them. Once you breathe it in, the virus enters your cells and multiplies itself. It takes some days for the virus to have multiplied enough in your body to make you sick, and this is what they call the incubation period. You would not get sick if you've had the virus before and if your body had developed an immune response to it.
It will be awhile before there is a consensus on how heavy are the particles of the new coronavirus and under which conditions they become airborne. All of the research on this coronavirus is new. So in the meantime, they suggest we keep at least 6' away from others. A few days ago they further suggested we start wearing masks.
Trouble is, there is not one mask to be had in my area, and we've not even been hard-hit! There's a huge shortage!
So people, do wear a mask to protect yourself and others if you can find one, but please, please, please don't just wear them as a crossdressing accessory! If they're hard to find in your area and you come across some, AND you don't feel you need it for your own health, you might consider donating it to someone weaker than you are, who is at risk of developing a severe form of COVID-19 should they get sick - like an elderly person or a person who has underlying health issues.
If you do need to go to a pharmacy or grocery store where there are more people near you such as in the cash register line and you can't find masks, There are decent online instructions for making your own mask even if you don't sew. They're not hospital grade but they will keep you from breathing some some of the airborne virus if you happen to be near someone coughing who is infected.
How to make your own masks, sew and no-sew:
https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019...coverings.html
You can also search youtube videos.
And last, it stands to reason that if you make your own masks then by all means you can use them as a crossdressing aid if you want to. Why not. You might even want to order some pretty pink cotton fabric and make it out of that!