Part of it is that it's early. There are projections that 3-4 million Americans could die if this is left unchecked. 50% of ICU patients in France are under the age of 45.
Yes, they project, estimate, approximate, conclude, foretell and spread this thing as if the consummation of the world is all but upon us.
Let's put this in persepective......
Here in Michigan, the latest figure is 65 cases of the virus, out of 10 million people who live in Michigan, that equates to exactly .0000065% of the population.
Currently, out of about 330.4 million people in the USA, there are about 6500 cases, which equates to .00002% of the population. Out of those 6500, to date there have been 116 deaths, which means that we have a .00000035% chance of dying from this virus. By any measure, the ratio is less than minuscule, but the way they report this thing 24/7 has people believing that 99% of the population are dying from it, meanwhile 90 people die every day in car accidents in the USA.
Being that exponentially more people die from the common flu, this thing is not even as bad as the common flu.