Most signs show that lockdown could easily stretch through the summer. A freeze in consumer spending would cause multiple industries to fail causing a ripple effect. As an aside, on a psychological level, why does it seem like few are concerned about a total economic collapse due to the coronavirus?
To be specific, if lockdown lasts through the summer, and a second virus wave occurs in the fall as expected, then lockdowns will continue further into the year. The timeframe for a vaccine is 12-18 months earliest. Then, the vaccine must be manufactured and distributed. Since the virus is so widespread that it is now assumed that it will reach a global critical mass, this essentially guarantees the collapse of the restaurant, airline, tourism, and hotel industries as they cannot sustain prolonged losses in a capitalistic structure. If they fail, their suppliers fail, and so on. History has shown that large systems are prone to failure time and time again, esp. when accountability is obfuscated (e.g. the Titanic, the World Wars/Holocaust, and now this). In the past Egypt fell, and then Rome fell. What is to say our current systems won’t fail, even if as a slowly sinking ship?
EDIT: This question was closed, before I received enough good, thoughtful answers. As of tonight (April 4th) Bernie Sanders held a virtual address on the situation. He's looking at the unemployment projections that were posted by the St. Louis Fed's models and has spoken with a number of economists. Finally a voice of reason in this media circus. He has confirmed that a potential collapse is possible as another 47 million Americans may become jobless - this is unprecedented and would be absolutely devastating to American civilization.
