Little question that if you're talking purely in economic terms, the most cost effective approach is to do a stringent six week shutdown everywhere COVID is raging, foot the bill, support the displaced and come out six weeks later looking like Europe and Asia.

2/ A totally different reality is possible and actually doable. But you have to decide to do it. What we have now is economic calamity AND 500-1000 dead every day as far as the eye can see. The worst of both worlds, mutually reinforcing calamities. There's another path.

3/ It requires leadership from the top, which basically can't exist until January at the earliest. Whether the political will will exist even then is unclear.