This is a false dichotomy. Masks or gloves as worn by ordinary people are nowhere near effective enough to mean lockdowns could end. They're very effective in clinical settings with proper ppe head to toe and procedures for taking them off outside the dirty ward, but there's no way most people can stick to those, nor keep their houses/shops clean enough.
I believe it's also well established that any measures taken to slow the spread of a new virus will always result in fewer total deaths
In the sense that they prevent a healthcare system being overwhelmed yes, in any other sense no, they are very much just a pause button for the spread of the virus, not a cure.
We wouldn't insist that people 'stop breathing' to prevent the spread of coromaviris. It's only somewhat different to insist that we all stop living and working.
Masks and gloves, plus generally keeping 6ft apart and routinely testing and contact tracing/quarantining infected individuals... what's the effective rate there? 95%? The modern medical establishment would move heaven and Earth, and incur thousands of dollars per person to get that last 5%. Most of us routinely ignore them in this regard, with respect to our own personal health, as we live our daily lives.
There just isn't a lot of evidence for the case that the choice is shutting the economic or killing millions.
Yes, although reality seems to be disagreeing with the models more and more. You have countries in southeast Asia with community transmission but no lockdown, and countries in Europe with the military enforcing a strict lockdown, and the latter are far worse off in terms of hospital admissions and deaths per capita than the former.
I believe it's also well established that any measures taken to slow the spread of a new virus will always result in fewer total deaths
In the sense that they prevent a healthcare system being overwhelmed yes, in any other sense no, they are very much just a pause button for the spread of the virus, not a cure.