I've noticed the down tick in BDSM communities and public spaces sooner than most did. My area doesn't have a ton of people, so when things changed with Covid, it was obvious and after some discussion I've kind of identified three things.

1) Covid sucks. It's still around, people are still mildly unsure of going out. And a lot of public spaces aren't opening up for large groups that used to make parties more fun. And the people who disregard or dont care about Covid are... well, they tend towards traditional values. I.e. not playing in public.

2) The sociopolitical sphere around BDSM has been changing for a while, Covid just kind of kicked it in the teeth and messed things up. I refuse to talk politics, but the fact is, now less than ever do women want to be timid and submissive while also men now more than in recent times are less inclined to put themselves out there. And media has given a lot of people the outlet they needed to decide for themselves without doing public spaces. So, there's just less people doing BDSM right now.

3) Factually, the public scene for BDSM in a lot of the country, tends towards older folks, and sadly, we just lost a startling number of those... I know fourteen people from various kink communities that fell to Covid, all were over 50 years old. Covid sucks.

Obviously, this isn't going to be true everywhere, and I'm probably just presenting anecdotal evidence. But no one should be taking anything I say as gospel anyway. Unless you want to.