Therefore they should be compensated too, and they are going to be. They get unemployment benefits and Federal money. The income tax due date was moved out, and many states have allowed people to stop paying rent and prevented evictions. There will probably be more help for people in the next relief bill the government passes.
People aren't being helped enough, but neither are businesses.
On the plus side, helping businesses can help people keep their jobs, so if you help businesses you also help their employees. People are focused on stock buybacks, but what we really ought to do is prevent businesses that receive aid from laying people off. (Of course, that does create the incentive for businesses to lay people off before they get the aid, but a smartly written law could require companies to hire those people back as a condition of aid, etc.)
If you help businesses you may be helping their employees. Or they may just take the money and lay everybody else off for the duration anyway.
If you want to put strings on the help to businesses (that they have to take care of their people if they get the help), I'm fine with that. If you want instead to just help the employees, and give the businesses a vacation on paying rent, utilities, and taxes, I'm fine with that, too. (But then you have to figure out how to help the landlords and utility companies. The landlords you can give a vacation on their mortgages, but then you have to help the mortgage holders...)
Government did not made virus. It merely failed to act on it - party because of trying to keep stocks up. American government (whether federal or local) was not exactly fast in giving out orders to close businesses or forcing restrictions or forcing people wear masks. It seems like for the most if United States and most of last months time, it was individuals, organizations and very local levels of government deciding to avoid contact (or pressuring each other to avoid contact).
The ones that are closed by government directly are restaurants and entertainment.
Individual health insurance being too expensive is also because of government. The levels of homelessness or how severe consequences of loosing job are is also something that is because of what government does.
