In all the enquiry submissions the narrative is: save lives with lockdowns versus harming the economy?

www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-67479548

Let's grant that lockdowns saved somelives. The question surely then should have been: save lives with lockdowns now versus save lives by not locking down and not harming the economy?

Why could no one in power apparently comprehend (even in what they took for private correspondence) that harming the economy and the physical and mental health of a country will lead to death as well?

Why was the narrative so unrelentingly, childishly simple?

Since the lockdowns the public have changed and it's not pretty.