As demented as it may seem, there will be times when the trade-off between cost and human lives are valid, even if it is suboptimal. Military commanders have to do this often because "he who defends everything defends nothing," meaning there will be times you may have to cost lives or resources for a greater overall effort
For instance, say Quarantine went on for two decades. The resulting economic fallout would probably be more costly and do more harm than those who would have died from the Corona virus, and the amount of starvation, riots, etc. would lead to a higher death toll.
As my old econ teacher used to say: there are no solutions, only trade-offs.
It's usually a pragmatic dilemma, but not one people want to be caught in the middle of choosing. That's when you start getting moral questions like with the trolley problem.
@Swagner