Those prices sound wild. You don't see that kind of pricing here unless you're actually getting a decent amount of house or are getting a luxury unit. That lower figure can still get you an 2000 sq ft detached house in a quiet neighborhood within 10 miles of downtown easily here around Minneapolis.
While I've fallen off the wagon of actually watching anime, it's because I just kinda got dragged into virtual youtubers because YT's algorithm kept recommending me subtitled stream clips and short skits on their actual channels when I was on YT watching/listening to other content, which, alongside character merch collecting in general, occupies my current favorite anime related thing.
Covid hasn't really changed my routine a whole lot since because of my role I'm one of the few who still has to go into work every day (if I'm healthy) at my office even during lockdowns since my employer is in food processing, so for me, outside of taking away the ability to play Pokemon TCG in person every weekend, it's not really been much of a change.
I have been fortunate enough to not catch covid to my knowledge, but very early on, in February 2020, I did catch a flu (at least I thought based on its short duration and its similarity to all previous bouts with the flu I had), and then caught a sinus infection in June of this year (this one I actually confirmed was not covid via testing).
Good to hear you've been healthy!