Few, if any, in aviation have completely escaped the scourge of COVID. Everyone has a tail of woe to tell. Unemployed or employed, it has been tough.
For those who found themselves unemployed, the loss of income and financial security brings with it significant levels of stress and hardship, particularly with a family to support. Also,the personal pride in doing a job that most of us hold as a passion is also a bitter pill to swallow and with much of our identity tied in with our work, losing that connection with flying is a huge loss for many of us.
Like-wise with being 'lucky' to remain employed, that has not been an easy undertaking either. Whilst I have spent nearly 18 months on a roughly equal time pattern in and out of strict quarantine, I am not about to say that my 230-240 days of being quarantined is harder than what the 60 day Qantas guy endured. It is all relative and it is all hard. I am personally fortunate that I have kept my offshore gig however it has come at a hefty price working 4/4 and 6/6 tours locked down in strict quarantine, separated from a young family with no end in sight, dealing with local border authorities acting like pigs etc etc. More recently, my time off was spent in lock down with home schooling and family illness. Not a lot of fun in anyone's book!
Home quarantine might not work for me or others, but if it is an option for some I would support it.