We can argue the toss about the risk for 20-40 year olds all day but we can all agree that the risk is pretty damn significant for those who are 65+. The idea that we should knowingly allow thousands and thousands of 65+ year olds die 10, 15 or 20 years before their time - in distress, with no loved ones to comfort them - to avoid some economic hardship is actually pretty monstrous.
Isn't that the major issue though? What does "some" look like?
It's a very uncomfortable truth that (at least as far as I understand it) the vast majority of people who die with (and possibly directly from) Covid are not just older, but have other serious health issues which would likely have resulted in death in a relatively short time frame thereafter from some cause linked to existing conditions. We are, therefore trading off damage to the economy to give those people "more" life and the question is, at what point the measures we have in place regarding lockdown, and to a lesser extent social distancing tip the balance the other way.
It seems the lockdown will cause loss of life from other issues such as mental health, or un-diagnosed cancers etc due to lack of screening. A recession also causes reduced lifespan, mostly at the bottom end of society and has far reaching effects decades down the line.
It's obviously difficult to balance this up. In some online forums you can't raise this argument without people suggesting you're a "sociopath" (as I was called on here last week) or suggesting that you think it's fine for old people to die so that I can go to the pub. Clearly that is not what I'm saying. Any death caused by the virus is tragic and I'm sure most of us will have it affect us directly. We need to minimise deaths and try and keep a balance which allows the economy to function so that thousands of others don't suffer now and in the future from the after effects.
I saw an article online the other day, the content of which I didn't agree with particularly but it raised a point I though was relevant. Humans don't like to think about death, accept that it is inevitable or think about the fact that the best we can hope for is to grow old and die peacefully from whatever illness (or illnesses) eventually take us. A bit profound but there you go. It makes having the discussion above, which the Governments around the world must be doing more difficult to accept.