I would say that it means a scanner running in the background all the time isn’t necessary. But I don’t think it’s ever been necessary on the Mac platform.
Having Malwarebytes or some other similar scanner installed so you can perform manual scans on from time to time might give you some added peace of mind, but even that shouldn’t matter as long as you take reasonable precautions. For example:
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Only download software directly from the publisher (e.g. Microsoft, FileMaker, Bombich Software, etc.) or from a trusted third-party app store (e.g. Apple’s app store). Don’t download/purchase from third-party app stores that don’t have a solid good reputation, including random “marketplace” sellers on sites like eBay and Amazon.
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Only download via a secure connection (e.g. HTTPS) and check the security credentials to make sure the content is really coming from where you think it is coming from.
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Don’t accept documents from untrusted sources if possible. If not possible, configure your apps (e.g. your office suite) to be as secure as possible (e.g. don’t run any macros/scripts, don’t use untrusted plugins, etc.)