But the principals of free speech and assembly should not be sacrificed for something that will be and mostly gone in 6-9months.
Why not? Ultimately, people are what matters. You know who can't exercise free speech and assembly? Dead people. Why is a 6 month hard lockdown worse than letting people keep walking around for 6 months? This sounds like a moral, absolutist statement you're making; like life is an art project, and the aim is to exercise some particular set of principles.
(Free speech? What's the threat to free speech here? Is it the people spreading bullshit and conspiracy about Covid that's getting people killed?)