Thanks, as a big fan of George Orwell & in particular Nineteen Eighty Four, I see some disturbing parallels between art and real life. Indeed whilst studying English Literature at 'O' Level I wrote a paper on it, putting myself in the position of Big Brother and describing what I would do. I recently looked at that (I kept it because I got a A++ and a note from the teacher hoping I would never become a dictator!) & some of the main points I set out are almost being replicated today, including something I called "New Thinking" which was an expansion on "Newspeak" & "Doublethinking" from the book. This was a kind of attrition that instead of using the threat of war & violence to repress, used more subliminal imagery, appearing to be delivering positive messaging but with oppressive undertones. So when I heard the term "New Normal", my blood ran cold. Its almost as if Orwell is reaching out from the beyond in search of a title to follow up on the original book.
Fear & suspicion are powerful weapons in the wrong hands, Orwell knew this and this was central to the plot. His writings were a warning not to let them control us, yet this is exactly what we are starting to see. The government messaging along with the media obsession with the "New Normal" is clearly acting on the collective psyche of the nation, and not in a good way. As you rightly say, distancing can not continue for much longer. Rightly or wrongly we are going to have to get used to the notion that we are mortal, and vulnerable. We should not, nay must not sign away our physical & mental freedom in trade for a faux sense of security. That's not to say we should not learn from this, there are lots of things to take away and think about such as how we work in the future, maybe spreading the traditional 9-5, Monday-Friday week out, meaning that distancing on public transport becomes more organic. But we absolutely must not let how we have handled covid in the year 2020 become precedent.
For anyone that has read the book, I would urge you to think about it & what is happening today. For those that have not, I highly recommend it!