Then there’s the intense disinfecting and sanitizing of everything in sight, despite the fact that scientists now say catching COVID-19 from a surface is unlikely. Yes, we wiped down our groceries in March, when we didn’t know better. But now there is talk of periodically closing schools to “disinfect” them. It would be nice to have clean schools, but it’s extremely unlikely that it will help with stopping the transmission of COVID-19. Meanwhile, closing schools to clean them will take time away from already-limited ­in-person education.

There are so many other ways the COVID guidance makes no sense. Forcing bars in New York to serve food and making them close by 11:30 p.m. will do exactly nothing to fight the virus but will do a lot to harm these businesses. We have plexiglass dividers in shops and salons, as if the virus can’t travel around them. Gyms, which keep people healthy and in good shape to fight viruses, ­remain closed.

Americans love their security theater. That was the lesson of post-9/11 air travel. And perhaps feeling safe might be good enough, for now. People wearing masks in ridiculous situations might be OK, if it means more people are going outside and we can return to normalcy.