Wuhan for example began its lockdown in Feb 2020 and ended it Apr 2020. There was a brief, limited lockdown in July of this year, but that's it.
Folks in China were able to freely mingle, eat out, etc. long before the West did. Reducing transmission is certainly not the only consideration, but the economy and public life are better by actually dealing with a deadly virus quickly than pretending it will just magically go away and dragging out its effects for two years (and counting).
Approximate US death stats via CDC, influenza vs covid-19:
2018-2019 - Influenza 34,200
2019-2020 - Influenza 25,000
2020-2021 - Influenza 700 - Covid 350,831 (Lockdowns in effect)
2021-2022 - Influenza 1,700 - Covid 771,000 (Vaccines available/lockdowns lifted)
But by all means, explain how Covid-19's IFR is just 1.5x that of influenza. Please provide evidence from reputable sources that can reconcile these numbers.
If influenza deaths had been counted in prior years the way Covid deaths were counted, they would have been far higher than the figures you cite.