Thinking about how Mary Mallon (Typhoid Mary) only went back to working in high-contact cooking jobs because being a laundry maid paid too little. Her employer or the state could have just paid her more to save lives and keep her out of prison.

Even in more sympathetic retellings, Mary is presented as selfish and reckless. It's such an individualistic perspective. She simply wanted to earn a livable wage, and not be forcibly quarantined or subject to invasive medical procedure.

For a long time she didn't understand the threat she posed. Doctors tried to push her to have her gallbladder removed; an operation that carried a risk of death. She was treated like a guinea pig but denied essential healthcare. She hated how George Soper let her be vilified.

From her letters: 'I have been in fact a peep show for everybody. Even the interns had to come to see me and ask about the facts already known to the whole wide world. The tuberculosis men would say ‘There she is, the kidnapped woman,’

'Dr. Park has had me illustrated in Chicago. I wonder how the said Dr. William H. Park would like to be insulted and put in the Journal and call him or his wife Typhoid William Park.'

I just found this article about Mary and its a great overview of her story: https://www.ctvnews.ca/health/coronavirus/typhoid-mary-the-asymptomatic-cook-who-infected-patrons-1.4944890