It’s very melodramatic. Either wear the mask and do whatever you had planned or don’t wear the mask and do something else. Why the author would think anyone would care, why any editor would think this is worth publishing, etc is baffling.

And yes, masks are laughably ineffective unless it’s something like a KN95 or N95. At least countries with wide access to those masks fared much better than ill-equipped populations like the US and UK during the same periods, and with neighbouring countries as well. I still wear them because it makes stealing a breeze.