When I entered the Catholic Church some years ago, I recall someone in RCIA saying that the focus on Confession had shifted in recent years. They said that the focus for a long time was about the act ...
Although the Basilica of Santa Maria in Trastevere, a Rome neighborhood, is open March 18, 2020, the confessionals are empty because they do not allow the priest and penitent to stay 3 feet apart.