Crossword Genius

One never out to give message in pandemic (4-2-4)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

stay-at-home

I'm a little stuck... Click here to teach me more about this clue!

'one' is the definition.
Both the answer and definition are adjectives. Maybe there's an association between them I don't understand?

'never out to give message in pandemic' is the wordplay.
I cannot quite understand how this works, but
'in' could be 'athome' (someone at home is 'in') and 'athome' is present in the answer.
The remaining letters 'stay' is a valid word which might be clued in a way I don't see.
This may be the basis of the clue (or it may be nonsense).

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for stay-at-home that I've seen before include "One not given to travel" , "Don't go out" , "Unadventurous in travel" , "Person disinclined to travel" .)

I've seen this clue in The Times.
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