Pretty sure it isn't.
Heart disease and cancer kill about 50,000 per month and COVID-19 is about 33,000 per month.
That is with all the measures that were in place, and without a health care system that got overburdened. In many countries where they are, the numbers are very likely much higher.
There is no question that if you leave this unchecked, you will simply lose a good 5-9% of the world population, most notably elderly. That is a vast majority of everybody's parents and maybe grandparents we are talking about. Perhaps yours.
I think, the order of things here should be different when we consider such things.
First. You have a discussion in the public space about what the people prefer and in what measure. Right now, the motivation behind lockdown and re-opening is purely economical and healthcare based. Is that broad enough? What sacrifices are we willing to make, when are we willing to 'stop caring'? Those questions remain unanswered, and until we have those answers, we have, all, together supported and paid for a system that said every life was to be saved to our best ability.
That is the principle at work here and that is why these lockdowns were initiated. The
worldwide consensus is that health and safety are regarded as higher value than anything else (even if that is not available to every person, note). Its not strange either, because that is the basis for economic growth and prosperity; a healthy workforce. Turning around on that without careful deliberation is a pretty big thing, and to me reads as kneejerk response, or, the real panic of losing what you once had. I'm not saying you didn't think it through, but did you?
In my view, the inescapable reality here is that we will be in limbo for several years or until an effective treatment that is low cost and can be applied to large part of the population is available. And/or a vaccine can be widely distributed. Anything else, such as this talk of a 'new normal' where we avoid physical contact and keep social distancing, is just not normal and never will be. Society and all of its functions will be rendered economically broken for a loooong time. Everything we do now in the public space will be much more costly and not viable. You can find very creative solutions around that, but none of them will return a normal of any kind. So its either a harsh discussion on what sacrifices we want to make, or its just waiting it out with minimal physical contact and maximum distance - ie partial lockdown.
There are tons of ridiculous examples of this new normal too, as we are reopening over here, and a lot of them don't even seem to make sense. Its like fighting the obvious. If you release the crowds you will get crowds, its just that simple, and I don't think everyone is responsible or capable enough to recognize for themselves when they need to get their test and apply self quarantine. Heck, not even our own leaders were capable enough to see that. That seems to be our 'exit strategy'. Its gonna be bumpy for sure. And if its not, we have overestimated the threat after all, let's hope so...
