To ease some concerns, having been in the same or similar situation as other readers, I am in-game in Tichondrius. I do not recommend going to Maldraxxus, which has crashed several times. I’m in Bastion currently which is safe. Torghast has queues which are paused.
This may help some people searching for answers:
https://us.forums.blizzard.com/en/wow/t/a-character-with-that-name-already-exists/764763