I agree with everyone here – yes for davening, yes for hishtadlus, and yes for being open-minded…
on one hand, davening is better than burning tires and starting protests….
On the other, to protect Yserbius from being accused of insensitivity, we can look at the idea of “sheretz b’yado” – can we daven while doing averos (not just passively not doing hishtadlus …)?
Presuming that a plague is a punishment and lesson for us – we should at least try to discern the lesson and learn from them. Some of the “lessons learned” I heard are usually simply an extension of the speaker’s agenda, adding Covid for better taste.