Your confusion about the sizes of particulate can be excused because about 90% of the info available even on the size of coronavirus particulate is complete garbage. Coronavirus particuate is approximately 10 times smaller than particles found in cigarette smoke.
The droplet argument is a good example of the nonsense being spread. Around 95% of the masks people wear these days are not even designed to keep out large dust particles. They do collect droplets when someone sneezes, but as those droplets evaporate in the mask they are aerosolized and blown out in smaller sized droplets during the act of breathing. These are much smaller than the droplets coming out of a sneezing persons mouth so they float around longer and are more easily inhaled by other people.
Even the Washington Compost cites a study showing that most masks are completely ineffective and bandannas, “neck gators” and masks with exhalation valves are worse than wearing no mask at all.
https://www.afssociety.org/cigarette-smoke-size-distribution-and-effects-on-filters/ i.e. 0.1 to 0.3 microns. SARS2 virus is 60 to 140 nm or 0.05 to 0.14 microns. So no, that's not really correct.
Even the Washington Compost cites a study showing that most masks are completely ineffective and bandannas,
No disagreement. For most people in most normal situations a mask is useless. Some cloth masks can be worse than useless. A properly fitted N-95 mask is useful but doesn't stop virus output because of the valve. A surgical mask can be better than nothing, but has to be thrown away. Sneezing inside a mask is obviously going to make that mask much less effective. Few people do that though.