According to Mori V'Rabi

 

- --רחמנא אידכר לן זכותיה 

 

The גמרא שבת נ"ה states: תמה זכות אבות. The זכות אבות has expired and we can no longer rely on it.

Meforshim ask: How is it that there are times in davening that we do claim to have זכות אבות?

Mori V'Rabi Harav Hagaon R. Shlomo Miller Shlita says that when חז"ל  said זכות אבות lasts only for a certain number of generations (see Shabbos 55a), it applies only to יחידים.  Individuals living today have no זכות אבות anymore because our generation is too distant from the אבות.

However, this does not apply to the ציבור, since אין ציבור מתים. The ציבור of מתן תורה (or of any generation) is the same ציבור as of today. The ציבור of today is considered the same generation as the first generation; therefore, the ציבור of today does have זכות אבות.

Hashem judges the ציבור first - כמה יעברון וכמה יבראון - how many will ח"ו die & how many will be born.  Afterwards, he judges the individual - מי יחיה ומי ימות - which individuals of the ציבור will be the ones who die.

In addition to the זכות אבות, it is important to daven for the ציבור (especially during Covid 19) to minimize the amounts of deaths in the ציבור. The more deaths that are נגזר on the ציבור, the more זכויות an individual will need to be excluded from that pool.
--זכרנו לחיים מלך חפץ בחיים וכתבנו בספר החיים