I think few are willing to sustain a COVID-free lifestyle indefinitely. Using induction some people probably conclude that they might as well not bother.

I see the reasoning and don’t think the ethics of our pandemic behaviors have been fully discussed.

> the unethical behavior of its patrons

the patrons apparently don't believe that their behavior is unethical, and in fact, think that the dictates of their rules are unethical, and potentially illegal too.

Strikes me the gym and the bank could probably come to some kind of arrangement?

That’s because pensioners and investors expect to be paid their due.

If this was true, we'd see landlords with paid-off mortgages waiving the rent. Since we don't see this on any major scale, we can only conclude that mortgages are inconsequential to landlords demanding rent-payments.