It's not like there was one unified message about this, ever. Yes, it was commonly understood that preventing "avoidable" deaths from stressed hospitals was a s

It's not like there was one unified message about this, ever. Yes, it was commonly understood that preventing "avoidable" deaths from stressed hospitals was a sufficient reason to lock down, but that doesn't mean that it was unanimous that it was the only reason. From the beginning, if you ask ten people what "people are saying", you'll get ten different answers. My own impression of what the public was initially told does not match up to yours.