It’s unfortunate your friend and dentist got an illness and had some consequences from it. The good news is they recovered, and perhaps your dentist will regain his sense of smell in the future.

People get sick from diseases all of the time. Except for particular diseases that are harsh with extremely high mortality rates (think Ebola or hemorrhagic fever as examples), why have we never, ever worried about a cold before? Especially while ignoring the data that shows many of the diseases people die from every year are suddenly gone. The flu? Not this year. Obesity/heart disease? Covid is much more lucrative. In fact, Covid is the most sinister of every disease known to man. Most people have to be tested to know they have it!

None of the crap they are doing does much to stop the spread of a virus. A mask that won’t stop a smoke particle isn’t going to stop water vapor or a virus that are much smaller.

I’ve had people close to me die from all kinds of things. Should I stop living my life as normal because of that?

You quarantine the sick, not the healthy.