I have heard that from my friends back in the States, especially my friend who lives in Florida. When I asked him about masks he simply said "we don't do masks here." Yet they seem to have done just fine.
The media definitely has a vested interest in doom and gloom, so I tend to ignore them when they talk about Covid... they are just after ratings. Hence the reason why they almost never talk about countries like the one that I live in where everything is open and except for a couple of weeks, always has been.
I consider myself very fortunate to be "trapped" here, even though I would stay even if I wasn't.
RE: Nothing to see here! Vietnam doesn't even talk about Covid anymore