I have noticed a huge increase in the number of comments on stories, though I felt like that started slightly before the pandemic. Does HN provide traffic stats anywhere public? I'd be curious to see when it changed, or if I'm merely imagining it.
I noticed a two to three week spread of behavioral changes as the pandemic started. That is, some people, counties, states, companies entered 'pandemic mode' two to three weeks before others. So maybe an increase in comments was both motivated by the pandemic, and also occurred slightly before 'pandemic mode' applied to your company or your area?