This might sound good as a sound bite but offers no thought behind it. One thing that is clear is that we cannot go to extremes on either end.

On one side - we cannot stop the economy to contain the virus, because that would turn into every person having to grow their own food and carry their own water with a bucket from the river. Many many people would also die.

On the other side - we also cannot ignore the pandemic and carry as if nothing is happening because that would over-burden the hospitals to the point that they will not be able to treat people with other issues. Many many people would die as well.

So there indeed has to be a balance. And the question "what price are we willing to pay for saving a life" seems to be on point.

A lack of jobs can create dead people, whether through crime or through an inability to afford healthcare or shelter or food.

I'm not convinced that such deaths outweigh the lives saved through these measures, but they're still worth mentioning if we want a full picture of the impact.

A lot of the jobs that were lost won't come back for years. It's not like we can flip a switch and all the businesses that closed will be open again. The small business economy has been destroyed.