It's 'how many people would die of covid if left to their own devices with minimal/no medical support'. Which is obviously still a minority - but it's a ton more than 1 percent. Because if you just let the virus rampage through the population and do little or nothing to restrain it, then before too long your healthcare system will get so swamped that that's what it will come down to. In many places, hospitals are very close to, if not already at, the point where they can't take any more covid patients unless they start reducing care for other patients. And once a patient is in the ICU for covid, they're likely to stay there for quite some time, so it's not like those spaces will open up again soon for the next people who need it.
Also, even in the current situation, you shouldn't underestimate the number of people who survive but suffer permanent lung damage that will affect their life moving forward.
Of course you still have a point about the negative consequences of lockdowns, but it's definitely misleading to suggest covid is that harmless.