It really should come as no surprise that these poor, scared and lonely types should seek companionship in the ways most familiar to them when outside the prison environment last time.
No one wants to be caged for the next plague, TEOTWAWKI, or any other doom spelling event.
You'd think that would be cause enough every day to color between the lines, eat your vegetables (except maybe Brussels Sprouts), and brush your teeth every day, not to mention obey the law.
But if you can't do the latter of those things, it's the chance you take. It seems strange that the Gubernator of Noo Yawk was more compassionate, in the end, toward criminals than seniors and others in assisted living, who were sent to the infection camps in facilities known to be struggling with outbreaks.