Only once, on Instagram, have I read anything about Drew Hunter definitely having COVID. Consider that this one Instagram message from a week or so back might explain a thing or two: "About a month ago @drewhunter00 almost gave up on his season completely due to fatigue from long Covid. We are so happy for Drew for keeping the fire alive and believing things would turn around."
The long COVID must have severely impacted his training in this key year. He didn't hit the 5k standard for the World Championships, and you'll note that he switched back to the mile/1500 - in the hope that he could still make the US Team for the Worlds. That didn't pan out back on June 23rd, but since then he has twice run substantial personal bests in Sound Running meets held on July 9th (3:54.80 mile) and July 15th (3:34.86 1500 meters). So maybe he is rebounding, at last, from the debilitating impact of long COVID. Possibly he will continue to improve now and silence at least a few critics.