I am disappointed to read this thread.
We last cruised with HAL in September 2018. On that cruise and on our cruise the year before most food in the buffet was served by the crew. This was, of course, pre covid and even then we thought it was a great innovation. It is disappointing if HAL are changing back to the old ways.
That said, we cruised on another line in September this year and the buffet was fully self serve. I am glad to say that we were not aware of any health issues on that cruise.