I guess if we play what a full lockdown looks like; close down for 2 - 4 weeks, open up for 4 - 6 weeks, close down for 2 - 4 weeks (repeat until vaccine comes out). I honestly don't know how someone could operate a business like that between finding staff, getting stock, fulfilling sales etc You're better off keeping some form of consistency and a partial lockdown like we're on now should have been done weeks ago.
People dismiss the economy argument, but we saw the sheer amount of people now needing unemployment benefits. If you constantly add more to it, it's going to make it harder to support those people and provide funding for those Government services such as Health and paying health care workers' wages. Adding more people just makes the spiral harder to come out off.
Health and economy are inextricably linked both in terms of this pandemic and all the time (there is a very strong correlation between wealth and life expectancy).
It seems like a lockdown scenario isn't being reasonably compared with the current situation. Above, you've suggested that lockdown could be 2-4 weeks and then followed up by another 2-4 weeks in a month or month and a half's time and that would be repeated until a vaccine is available.
What is the timeline on the current measures in place?
I went to the local shops briefly this morning and there were a lot of people around. Most looked like they were still acting as if it was situation normal. I have zero faith that people will adhere to the social distancing protocols as strictly as they need to whilst it is not really a legal requirement.
There are so many exemptions and contradictory rules that suggest that it's actually not that bad to be in close-ish proximity with others as long as it is for a business purpose and/or less than 30 minutes in duration.
If you look at the number of Australian cases it is only very recently that cities outside of Sydney and Melbourne have reached the case numbers where things start jumping exponentially. Our doubling time has been shortening, not stretching out and we're a very long way from any indication that the curve could be flattening to the extent that the case numbers won't ultimately overrun our hospitals.
The longer you drag out the requirement to have serious restrictions on economic activity, the worse the economic fallout will be.
The almost certain reality in my opinion is that the numbers will keep rising and stricter measures will be enacted before you get the opportunity to see what impact, if any the current measures are having.