I'm reading (well, listening to) a recent novel in which covid *exists* but is not central. I'll tell you which one when I've finished with it.
Not done yet, but I suspect covid specifically will never be mentioned, and nor is its existence necessary for the plot. But there are many (but not too many) references to things which only those of us who lived in the time would understand, and in 50 years will be fodder for dissertations. "COVID REFERENCES IN THE NOVEL [X] BY... ] kind of thing.
Any work of fiction that exists in some actual present has this, of course, but Covid Time seems to be weirdly cryptic and inscrutable. It won't even make sense in 10 years.
