The country has been through far worse disease pandemics (per capita) than COVID-19. Stuff that decimated people in the prime of life. But most people don't know this. All they know is the hysteria they see on TV and social media. This is what Nietzsche called the herd mentality.
We are only two months into the shutdown. If the panic runs into fall of 2020 and spring of 2021, we will almost certainly have another Great Depression. The consequences of this will be much more far-reaching than COV-19 deaths (even if they top 250,000).