There is still too much confusion to draw proper conclusions. What I mean is that a lot of people who say they dislike working from home actually dislike the pandemic, the lockdowns, the lack of human interaction, and the associated stress and drama. They might be perfectly happy to work from home in normal times.
Also as a former hospitality worker, my sympathy for those whose jobs preclude WFH entirely.
It's also possible that a lot of people who say they like working from home actually just like not being exposed to COVID. You seem to think there's no rational reason anyone would want to work in person.
I agree with both arguments.
I have been working from home since March 2020. Maybe 30 days in the office since.
I do like it most days, sometime life at home gets in the way of productivity but these days exist in the office too.
I do also like to not be exposed or infected with Covid19 or sneezles.
But at the same time I do want to stress that the amount of covid Australia had is still very very little to what other countries go through and it has affected me only minor. (Yes I do consider myself lucky on that part and know that others have been affected very much so).
There's probably a lot of reasons for both points of view with different weighting for different people, and there's lot of middle ground between in office and remote too.
Personally I actually like working in person, just not every day, and I don't like commuting. If I had it my way I'd be within walking distance of work and doing something like 2-3 days a week in the office. But as long as every business is still in the city and the trains are still shithouse then I'm on team full remote, even if that's not my "true" preference.
Also as a former hospitality worker, my sympathy for those whose jobs preclude WFH entirely.