> no source of evolutionary advantages on any variants.

Any variant that is able to co-exist with (rather than kill) its host during a full lockdown has a significant advantage. We co-exist with several coronaviruses already.

Only true if the virus lasts long enough to outlive a lockdown. So far that hasn’t been the case for the vast majority of single hosts.

> Except "Everybody goes inside and stops spreading" is not something that is unique to a variant of concern.

But it is — this will not be the response to a variant that doesn’t cause an increase in hospitalizations or deaths.

A given response exerts pressure on all variants, of course. But a milder variant may be able to spread widely before a more lethal one shows up and ratchets up lockdowns.