- If we can reduce / avoid overloading hospitals, people who get it after the lockdown will get better treatment and will be less likely to die than if they got it now.

- Over time, we will come up with more effective treatments and perhaps a vaccine. We will likely also have more equipment like ventilators and protective gear at our disposal.

- More people will have had it and built up some level of immunity, and "herd immunity" means it will not spread as quickly.

Herd immunity won’t make a significant difference until half the population have had it, and a vaccine could be a year away (if ever).

This also all assumes that the virus won't be quickly mutating. If it is, vaccines and herd immunity will have diminished efficacy.

In the long run we'll have protocols and procedures, and your physician will have seen hundreds of covid cases before treating you, and the fatality rate will (wishfully, possibly) converge to standard seasonal flu.

If we're really lucky, we might have an effective vaccine by early 2021.