> Building up herd immunity in the rest of the population once hospital supply lines are robust might be the best way to unwind the existing rules

Have you been out in public in the USA since the "shelter in place" orders took effect in any of the affected states/cities?

This is not a quarantine, it's not an absolute containment effort. The effect is to simply slow the spread to something hopefully less than wildfire.

There will be herd immunity developing regardless of what we do. Vulnerable people are already afraid and staying home as much as possible.

Plenty of people are out going about their lives despite the shutdown. I'm in CA and went for a supply run yesterday, Home Depot was crowded with folks who seemed to be taking advantage of the time off to do home improvement projects.

Plenty of evidence of sick folks out there being careless as well. The contagion is spreading either way.