Is there a “like” button here? This really encapsulates everything many of us have been feeling. Very little needs to be added, except perhaps: Why were such measures never taken in other recent pandemics of similar scope (ex-1918 which was magnitudes-of-order worse than this).
To answer your questions: Unfortunately this is part of the curse of prosperity … thanks to modern medicine and technology, our lives were so predictable that the idea of something we cannot control simply does not compute for 75% of the population, especially the younger generation. For many this will not be over until the disease is completely eradicated (5yrs? 10yrs? longer? compare timelines of measles, polio, etc.) Imagine living half of your adult life in fear, behind a mask, suspicious of everyone you meet. Is this really the future we want? (Again there are exceptions to every rule – hospitals, nursing homes, etc.)
And I also wish people would please stop bringing up the tired example of the 1905 Supreme Court ruling, which was a “Hora’as Sha’ah” for a disease with a 30% mortality rate and a proven antidote. If there was such precedent, why do we not see more such rulings since then? (1956 flu, 1968 flu, polio, mumps, measles, etc.)
R’ Eliezer: Regarding V’nishmartem – until last year, this was reserved for not leaving the pool gate open for little kids to fall in. Or not to jump out of a plane. Never heard much about it before then.