Ok, in recent history TB sanatoriums where the infected where heavily pressured to relocate to during their illness. I had two grandparents both sent to TB sanatoriums. Partly for recovery purposes and partly to separate them from the rest of the population. Upper middle class people had much more of a choice than the lower classes who were essentially detained. I believe that patients with active TB are still quarantined if they have a drug resistant variety.
I’m not really sure why I’m defending something that is basic infection control of contagious illnesses. Isolation of infected people is infection control 101, the next step up from that is isolating those they may have infected. In a situation like we’re in, which hasn’t occurred in living memory as far as I’m aware, which is to say a high prevalence of disease that outstrips the resources we can reasonably provide, more is needed than a public poster campaign.
This pandemic could have as easily been due to variety of flu, a particular strain of bacteria, a parasite etc. All of them would need some measures to if not stop, slow the rate of infection that would require more than just politely asking people to do something. Christ, we had to fine people to stop them spitting in the street during TB. People didn’t just stop doing it because they were told it presented a risk.