In a recent conversation with my Dad, I asked how he was enjoying the zoom meetings. He lives in a rural part of Australia, virtually untouched by covid-19, in fact, the state he lives in has a limit on religious gatherings of 300, which could easily handle the average attendance of congregation meetings. So I asked why don't they resume meetings as usual?
In his typically condescending, self-righteous way, he told me that 'The Brothers' will let them know when they can once again hold normal meetings and go door to door.
The way I see it, on one side of the argument you have a large organisation that has a governing body, based the U.S, that sets the rules. Maybe its far less complicated to have a blanket rule for all congregations worldwide during the pandemic and continue online for now. This makes sense but also leaves me a little confused as to why they wouldnt want to get back to preaching the urgent good news of the kingdom as soon possible, in areas where it can be carried out safely.
The other side of the argument, which is wild speculation, is perhaps they really are using this as a stepping stone to liquidate kingdom halls in the future, when the time is right. This idea has been discussed here already and I guess time will tell, once there is a vaccine and things get back to normal.
The main reason I could imagine them selling off, apart from the injection of cash, is that it puts the physical buildings one more step out of the reach of lawsuits, should some jw's decide they are entitled to reimbursement and pursue the org legally.