No, economists are not cynics who are so blindly obsessed with the stock market that they do not care whether your grandmother dies. They, like everybody else, want to maximize human well-being.
There seems to be a large segment of the population that is triggered whenever someone mentions that maybe...just maybe...almost completely shutting down the economy might not have been the best approach when it came to COVID-19. Immediately you will be accused of hating old people, wanting people to die and wanting to line the pockets of the wealthy with more money.
I can only assume that these shrill straw men arguments come from ignorance. Ignorance of what economics is all about and ignorance of what some of the potential consequences are to what we are doing. Although it doesn't go into specifics necessarily, this article describes the thought process of economists and even those who just know a little about economics. Spoiler alert...It has nothing to do with hating old people, wanting people to die or wanting to make the rich even more rich.