i agree that things should be shut down at the right time, so to avoid the health services being overwhelmed. that's exactly the government's approach though. we're still very much in the early stages, but many have suggested (in this thread) that we should have been in lock down a month ago already. it's clearly going to be worse in July than it is right now, so that is heading towards a 6 month period. if that was the case we will have destroyed small business and people's livelihoods, even beyond the health issues. it just doesn't seem like you can prevent the 1% percentage of infection rate that China has achieved in Europe.
agree with your last paragraph completely.