If you look the Spanish flu in particular, it eventually fade out after 2-3y, and people resumed life by a mix of adapting to the new reality and stopped caring, and the illness mutated to a less dangerous form. People (at least those I think sounded pragmatic) were talking about that back in Spring 2020.

I don't know of a comment in 2020 that specifically say that, mainly because I don't keep a log and will not go search for it.