The R0 of this is over 2 - its a novel virus so no heard immunity. if the social distancing doesn't work this equates to about 75-80 percent of the population catching the virus. The death rate is about 1% the serious case rate is around 10%. this mirrors, roughly, China and Italy.
so, in the USofA , in a worst case scenario you would expect 240+ million will catch the virus. 24M will get sick enough to be bed ridden for a few days and may need medical assistance of varying degrees. Lastly 2.5M will die from the disease.
if the death rate proves out - then its the disease not propaganda or a power grab and the .gov underplayed the threat.
if the death rate is more in the 10,000 range - i'll agree its a power grab, especially if the govt doesn't release the controls in place. you know, like the feds canceling the election cycle because of the virus
we should only have a few months wait to see how it plays out. it looks like we've hit the inflection point on the curve - a mnemonic from my earlier years "Case, case, cluster, cluster, cluster, cluster, Boom."
here is a benchmark to compare with:
2019-2020 flu in the USofA - 13M cases, 120K hospitalizations and 6.6K dead.
source
https://www.contagionlive.com/news/cdc-reports-13-million-flu-cases-thus-far-in-201920-season