As a person that spent time in the Industry as well as did/does logistics and supply chain management I agree with your assessment. After the short-lived breather the PPP program allowed the Industry to have, few restaurants really saw the writing on the wall: after the summer season the shutdowns were inevitable either way due to the lack of dine in option or a forced 50% capacity. This was not sustainable in a business with razor thing margins and large overhead.
The only ones that are going to survive are the ones with large outside investment, where they're attached to a Corp with other forms of revenue--this is exactly the model of where I last worked, and only the flagship(s) and 2 other bistros remain after most had to shutdown. Everything else got the axe.
On the other side of the spectrum, cheap(er) eats, its a race to the bottom and a re-structuring of how to deliver. I have friends with restaurants and they offer curbside pick up, but are now also thinking about how to deploy a meal-prep type solution. A sort of interactive blue apron model with videos online to walk them through the process. Perhaps creating a community facebook page/social media presence to spread the word, I proposed it as a 'chowhound meets flickr' idea.
It's a sad situation, and the Industry needed a much needed overhaul given the amount of waste and abuse within it. But even I agree this was too high of a cost to pay. I'm just glad that I hit a high water mark that I can leave with my head held up high and can be satisfied with what I did as a chef in several countries on two continents.
DD is not a sustainable without tons of VC money to burn, their app is utter garbage, their fee policy on merchants exploitative, and the drivers are treated and paid well below even Industry standards who had their tips stolen while assuming no liability--VERY limited protection if an accident occurs while on delivery. Softbank created a poorly structured logistics solution that took a lot of marketshare without caring it was a money-pit with little to no potential ROI unless its IPO is a homerun, which Softbank will probably use to exit from its investment.
We are living through yet another absurd financial era, like 2008, where the Market is so filled with cheap money that it is flooding into any ponzi scheme that shows even a glimmer of short-lived profitability gets flooded with funding and investment, all while 1/4 of the US population is out of work and unemployment continues to rise everyday.