> I don't understand this attitude. It's seems to essentially be "it requires thought, planning, and effort, and therefore is impossible."

This kind of thinking has become extremely common across many different topics, ideas and issues.

Improving healthcare, climate change, making better cars/public transport, etc. etc. It's like people have wholesale given up on trying to actually improve anything.

My personal suspicion is it comes from most people struggling under crippling debt, and desperation and no way out in their own life flows over into their broader thinking.

Those viruses weren't eradicated for decades though and we didn't shutdown our way of life for the interim. And they were much more deadly.