> Good chance to kill off the filthy undesirables (economic deadweights such as those who dare to be ill or elderly people)
Government members and people in power in general tend to be older, and not always the most healthy. "Senator" means "elder" in latin, that's for a reason. And I don't think they want to be part of the "filthy undesirables".
> Easy to roll out mass increases of police powers and surveillance without any real opposition
Sure, but as the pandemic resolves, opposition comes back
> Fuck it, you can basically do what you want and sycophants will still go "now is not the time to critique, we need to be united"
Again, that's true. But again, the judgment will come later. People will look at how the government managed the crisis, compare it to what happened in other countries, and it will definitely affect the upcoming elections. And the upcoming elections is what politicians live for.
> Modern liberal democracies have been absolutely gasping for the chance to roll out some of these measures. Expect to see a "productive work time tracker" soon!
As if such things don't exist already. But the government already has a very good indicator on how productive you are: your revenue.