I somewhat disagree as the idea of a gap year during a pandemic is not the same as a traditional gap year to get valuable work experience, travel, do research etc. The reason you would do a “gap year” now is you don’t want to have 4 years of private college where 1 or 2 semesters are online. So you delay the start of college for one year hoping things will be better in a year.
I also don’t look at the gap year as “staying safe”. it’s more about not “wasting” 1 or 2 semesters of college by online instruction. If my D20 did take a gap year she would work part-time (current hostess at a restaurant that will use masks and social distancing) to save some money for college and likely volunteer for a professional services job like marketing or law or some other area which interests her. She could also take a class for fun, learn to bake and cook, learn a musical instrument, or create a vblog or utube channel. There’s many things someone could do during a gap year.
Btw - I don’t see any residential colleges being open in the fall and if/when they do online in the fall, it will be easy for them to take the conservative approach and continue it into spring. Colleges are big business and want your tuition dollars so they will string us along for a couple of semesters. A “gap year” might be one way to counter the heavy use of online instruction for the 2020/2021 school year.