Self-isolation, now the most-used word in the Engish language

It wasn't that long ago when I first read the word self-isolation in a newspaper and thought it to be a somewhat odd and rather silly description. Now, with millions of people around the world forced into isolation, either "self" at home, as demanded by most governments, or in intensive care in hospital. Self-isolation as a word it seems we're stuck with for months. When coronavirus finally leaves the planet, please God for a long time or, better still, for ever, we will all burst forth from our hibernation and start hugging everyone in the streets just to prove that humankind is not going to be cowed by a sinister, cowardly, malignant disease trying to destroy our lives. Self-isolation seemed almost a joke at the beginning as doctors and scientific experts struggled to come up with the best way forward to combat the virus. Now, with our prime minister Boris Johnson self-isolating in his flat above Number 11 Downing Street and Matt Hancock, health secretary, doing likewise at his home, AND Professor Chris Whitty, chief medical officer, in the same boat, the whole concept of normal government is coming to an end. The prime minister of Great Britain and Northern Ireland operating all alone in his flat, trying to run the country while his meals are served up on a tray and left outside his "office" door. It is a bewilderingly bizarre situation. He can do it with all the appropriate telecommunication paraphernalia, but what if he has days when he is feeling really bad with a high temperature? Hopefully for Boris this won't happen and the virus will treat him kindly so that he can function as prime minister without having to turn to Dominic Raab, the foreign secretary, to take up the reins of office. But from the mass of reports of how coronavirus has hit so many people with excrutiating sore throats, blinding headaches, hot and cold fevers and, worst of the lot, severe breathing problems, one can only hope and pray that those with huge responsibilities for governing this country - and other countries - suffer only mild symptoms if they prove coronavirus positive. There is nothing worse than trying to carry on working, especially in a job of high stress, if you are feeling terrible with a burning headache. Please God at some point soon the word self-isolation can go back to where it belongs, as one of the most under-used words in the English language.