Just Say It

Still, I'm not going to lose my running mask just yet. Not because I'm "addicted" to the pandemic, or distrust the science or advice of the CDC — on the contrary, I'll be the first to explain all the ways we know running outside without a mask is safe. But I first started wearing my mask outdoors as a courtesy, a signal to my neighbors that I cared about their health and was taking precautions to keep them protected. As we begin rolling back pandemic restrictions and resuming "normal life," I'm not quite ready yet to stop sending that message.
Jeva Lange "Why I'll keep running with my mask on"

While I certainly understood Ms. Lange's motivations, I do feel that her take on this contributed to the overall "public health theater" aspect of the way that the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic has been handled. The expectation that everyday people can't understand the nuances of the situation that they live in, and thus symbolic reassurances that don't actually improve the situation are helpful, leads to a state in which signalling takes on an outsized importance.

But that signalling also sends a message. For Ms. Lange, it's that she cares about her neighbors. However, just as with any other message, once it's out there in the world, the sender has no control over what it actually communicates. And a culture of wearing masks communicates that people should see themselves as a hidden danger to others and others as hidden danger to them. While it's true that covering one's mouth and nose can decrease the chance of direct person-to-person transmission of the virus, the reason why ubiquitous mask-wearing was mandated was that it's possible to not have any symptoms of the disease, yet still be contagious. The risk of miscommunication isn't necessarily a reason to change one's behavior, but understanding the potential for it is helpful, as it reduces the temptation to confidently state other people's understanding of the world around them.

It might also bring a certain openness to other possible messages. Running without a mask on is unlikely to communicate to everyone who sees Ms. Lang that she's uncaring and incautious. There will likely be some who would see that as a sign that the messaging on the current public health understanding was getting through to people or that being outside doesn't carry the same level of risk as other activities.

In the end, message by signalling is imprecise. Granted, imprecision is a fact of life. One can walk up to someone and speak one's mind and the other person might still not be 100% clear on the meaning of one's words. But part of public health theater is the understanding that simply giving people information is ineffective. But I don't know how accurate that understanding is. When there's no reason to treat a person jogging on the sidewalk as a significant risk of infection, then perhaps it's best to be up front about that, and start making it clear that this is a situation in which an abundance of caution, and certain precautions, are not warranted.