We're in a different situation that at the beginning of the pandemic. Then N95 - and even surgical - masks were in short supply and they thought transmission was by fomite (touching surfaces) and respiratory droplets. So stay 6' apart so the droplets drop, wear a mask to reduce the droplets you're emitting (protecting others) and keep washing hands (thought mine were going to fall off from the constant washing, needed to start using hand lotion in spite of being a guy who doesn't do lotion).

Then vaccines. The mRNA ones were quite effective against the Wuhan old-skool and Alpha variants. An 80ish percent immunity rate (prev infection or vaccination) might have gotten us to herd immunity - but we were never going to get there. The entire planetary population had to get immunity so variants wouldn't have a chance to evolve.

Now we're in the midst of Omicron BA.5 and 2.5, which can sidestep immunity from both vaccinations and previous infection. T-cell immunity seems to be holding. (you get infected, it's miserable, but you're less likely to die). We know it's an aerosol and fomites don't much matter (those were viral fragments detected on surfaces, not something that can infect you) - and viral 'load' (the number of infectious particles inhaled) matters. So 6' and cloth masks make no sense - but there are plenty of N95 and KF94 masks available - and those have been shown effective in keeping the viral load (if any) low enough that infection doesn't happen.

As far as getting metabolically healthy, I'd agree as people who are not are more likely to die (and maybe we can agree that dying early is bad).

On top, it looks like people who have metabolic issues are more likely to get 'long Covid' (which I won't get into in a response, except it's bad, makes things like adverse coronary outcomes and dementia more likely down the road) .

So yeah, we can take care of our own damn health. We can get healthier - and we can wear effective masks now that they're available - and I can stop washing my hands so much they hurt.

Sorry - you got me into 'diatribe' mode...