Well, I sure don't think I am essential, but I was in the office. I was about the only one that was, at least during the first summer. Boy, it was lonely.
During the height of the plague we had social distancing protocols in effect in our SCIF. Two 6 hour shifts, 6 a.m. to noon, noon to 6 p.m.
The two hours you weren't in the SCIF you had to work in the unclassified areas of the building to get your full 8 hours in.
I'd go in at 10 a.m. and work in our unclass teaming areas, a space where probably 400 people could sit and work.
Most days there would be 2, maybe 3 of us in there.
The whole building had, in the before times, a daily capacity of around 4,000 people. During full plague, fewer than 400 people would be there in any given day.
Even now, since we've "returned to work" the building is still at maybe 20% capacity, and they've even started emptying out parts of it as we get ready to end the lease in 2025.