Syag > They started meeting in person with masks and social distancing right from the start in September.
This is fine. I know people who approached this very responsibly. Many encouraged people to get tested when symptoms came up and ended up with small number of cases when there were outbreaks. It was not easy to do this the right way. for example, some people or schools did not disseminate information quickly, or people disregarded quarantine and went to shuls on yomim tovim. On the other hand, I know people who would visit various Jewish towns and then get tested every time when coming back. To do it right was not easy and those who passed this test should be proud of it.
Was there a negative impact on health is hard to estimate. Propagation happens a lot within younger asymptomatic groups, so you may not notice that something was passed through and then attacked an older person in a family. I saw a pretty convincing research showing that deaths in nursing homes in towns with colleges were 50% higher than those without. Apparently, asymptomatic young medical workers who would go to school and then to work would pass it on, despite testing and protection.