Okay, my original comment clearly came across as a weasel for COVID denial so sorry for that. Fuck denialism.

What I meant was that - like flu - it is an endemic respiratory virus which will be nasty but not fatal to most people. In certain contexts masks are less useful (not useless I suppose), and this is particularly in areas where mask use is minimal and strict (e.g. under the nose or constantly being touched without proper hand hygiene).

So what your cardiologist said could have been a realistic assessment of the current state of COVID, or denialism in which case they’re a dick.