The 2019–20 coronavirus pandemic caused some to compare it to the plague. There is the expression “avoid like the plague,” but many people did not seemingly try to avoid coronavirus (by staying at home, social distancing, wearing a face mask, etc.).
 
“We’re gonna have to retire the expression ‘avoid it like the plague’ because it turns out humans do not do that” was posted on Twitter by Jenny Nicholson on June 11, 2020.
 
   
Wikipedia: 2019-20 coronavirus outbreak
The 2019–20 coronavirus pandemic is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The outbreak was first identified in Wuhan, Hubei, China, in December 2019, and was recognised as a pandemic by the World Health Organization (WHO) on 11 March 2020.
 
Dictionary.com
avoid like the plague
Evade or elude at any cost, shun. (...) This seemingly modern expression dates from the Latin of the early Middle Ages, when Saint Jerome (a.d. 345–420) wrote, “Avoid, as you would the plague, a clergyman who is also a man of business.”
     
Twitter
Jenny Nicholson
@JennyENicholson
We’re gonna have to retire the expression “avoid it like the plague” because it turns out humans do not do that
10:25 PM · Jun 11, 2020·Twitter for Android
       
Twitter
Patrick Emek
@14wombat1
Clown face We’re gonna have to retire the expression “avoid it like the plague” because it turns out humans do not do that.
8:32 AM · Jun 12, 2020·Twitter Web App
   
Twitter
Ryan
@Hawkeye242
We need to retire the expression “avoid it like the plague” because it turns out humans do not do that anymore.
2:28 PM · Jun 12, 2020·Twitter for iPhone
 
Twitter
CoronaVirus19
@CoronaV84229339
You’re going to have to retire the expression “Avoid it like the plague”- because apparently, humans don’t.
7:03 PM · Jun 13, 2020·Twitter Web App
 
Twitter
Mirus Financial
@MarkVergenes
“We are going to have to retire the expression ‘avoid it like the plague’ because it turns out humans do not do that.”
-Jenny Nicholson
8:05 PM · Jun 15, 2020·Cetera Financial Group
 
Twitter
Everyday Runaway
@Brianne_L
We’re going to have to retire the expression “avoid it like the plague” because it turns out humans do not do that… #Covid_19
7:11 PM · Jun 16, 2020·Twitter Web App