Syag,
I am bringing you sources that demonstrate that taking actions is the right thing to do – together with the right hashkofos. And these are far from exhaustive sources, just on a surface. IF you can offer an explanation why Rava’s closing windows is different from covid isolation proposal, please do. Otherwise, you are asking your listeners to choose between your quote and a Gemora, and it is not very convincing.
Maybe, the author’s point is about people who focus their blame primarily on easy political targets – Trump is wring here, Fauci there, it is Xi’s fault etc. That would make sense. But I don’t see how this covers individual (ventilation) or collective (vaccine distribution) action to fight the disease.
Maybe we can understand this book better if we can understand where the limits are: I presume he and you would endorse an effort to get off the bed and make yourself a breakfast, rather than waiting for Hashem to feed you directly. Then, there are clear cases where a person is full of himself – as in the joke “thank you I found parking by myself”.
Still, there are people who make an effort with the right attitude. One person told me that he was asked to come to a business HQ and say tehilim for a couple of hours. At the end, the boss came in, thanked him, and gave cash. The person was surprised by the cash offer and also wondered – what was happening that required tehilim. The boss said, nothing unusual, simply, the guy whom he hired to say tehilim daily was off on that day.
So, there is some point where your effort becomes illegitimate. What defines that? I would agree that saying that our army/our doctors will save you, so no need for religion, is obviously the wrong attitude. What else?