The tough question is: how do the long-term, hard-to-pin-down, variable physical health effects of post-viral syndrome compare to the long-term, hard-to-pin-down, variable mental health effects of lockdown, social isolation, job insecurity, and disruption?
There's a wide spectrum between full lockdown and zero precautions taken. We were never choosing between one or the other, and very few places actually went into full lockdown.
Even some of the cities with the strictest regulations still felt like business as normal, albeit with masks, after about April or May of last year.
Let's not kid ourselves, there was never a proper lockdown. Barely anything changed besides working from home and kids having remote school for a few months. Nearly everything remained open with only half measures taken and most people ignored social isolation as well.
The impact on the virus was certainly minimal but I would not underestimate the impact on kids’ mental health and education, especially those kids with bad situations at home. My kids were fine because I bought them an outdoor playset and a thousand dollars of LEGOs, and taught them math and science three grades above their level. Other kids were stuck at home with abusive parents trying to do Zoom school with learning disabilities.
That's a false dichotomy, especially in countries which are planning to open up in spite of the science.
Aside from Long Covid, there's also a danger of adult's not being able to work, as people either self-isolate or are too ill to do their jobs.
Remote won't necessarily fix this - partly because if you're ill at home you're still ill, but also because there are many jobs which need people on-site.
If you get a huge peak at the same time, not only are hospitals overwhelmed - already happening in the UK - but other critical services are also endangered.
