I think your bf is doing the right thing quarantine-wise. He should have communicated how he felt about it with you before just shutting away, but it sounds like his priority is taking care of his elderly parents. That means only leaving for essential errands and getting exercise. No visits to anyone. No exceptions.

That being said, the breakdown in communication shouldn’t continue - we’re all struggling to play catch up and establish new routines and social interactions. Sounds to me like he’s stressed about the situation and shutting down.

I think you need to text him and let him know that you’d like to set some time aside in the next few days to talk on the phone about your communication during quarantine. That will give you both a few days to organize your thoughts and for him to brainstorm some ideas of ways to improve it - you have lots of good ideas already!

I use this for most issues we have because my fiancé can feel stressed and put on spot - he freezes up. Its helpful to say “I feel like xyz is a problem, and its not working for me. I’d like to talk about this in a day or two so we can discuss some possible solutions to xyz problem that will work for both of us.” Great way to set up us vs the problem rather that me vs him.

I’m not really someone who understands “breaks” in a relationship. I think they lead to ambiguity and heartbreak. You’re either together or you’re not. I’m unsure on what the pros of a break would be in this situation?