All paranoia and political spin aside, it's not all that hard.
1. It's coming. In fact, it's here.
2. You have a fair chance of getting it, but a very small chance of dying from it, even if you do get it. Mortality seems to be less than 3% at worst. For now. The wild card is evolution. Viruses mutate and change very rapidly. Usually, over the long run, they become less virulent. But sometimes, as in the case of this virus, they get worse. Hopefully, it will revert to a less virulent form.
3. Some people who would otherwise have lived, will die from it. If you believe a drug-addled talk show host's story that it's "just the common cold", you need to get some help.
4. It's going to be worse because our leaders decided we really didn't need that much protection from pandemics and cut the budget for CDC and public health. That decision will ultimately kill some people. How many, is yet unclear.
It may pose a bigger problem for the American economy than for American healthcare. If people panic, that will make things worse.
Suppose people stop going to work in warehouses and trucks stop delivering to stores. Food supplies could run low in stores; but if people panic, they might be bare.
We already saw Wall Street take a dive. Don't be surprised if it goes down more. I expect it to. American businesses who may be making some profits now could show losses; and the fact is American businesses have too much debt. The American government has permitted it. In 1992, there were 98 US companies with a Triple A rating. That means they had good business practices and a low or reasonable debt level. Today that's down to two: I think they are Johnson & Johnson, and Microsoft.
Supply chain problems will likely hurt businesses' profits. How many businesses are ready to weather the storm if it comes? Tim Cook said they're already reopening some factories that were closed temporarily. Maybe Apple will the weather the storm. I wonder about other businesses; and as this virus spreads to other countries, expect more supply chain problems especially in poorer countries. China has a reasonably good health care system. What about things mined in poorer countries that get shipped to richer countries to go into manufacturing?
While it is true the Democrats will be certain to criticize Trump whenever they can and people who hate Trump may invent rumors, he's not helping the situation by the things he says. His history of lying doesn't make him credible. Exaggerating things to try to calm people also is misguided, so saying there would be a vaccine in two months didn't help. Remember Sars and Mer? There never was and still isn't a vaccine for them.
To be sure, Trump doesn't want people to panic or to blame him when they start to fear things. He is also probably in a panic himself about his chances of being re-elected if the Dow Jones really collapses. I approve of him wanting to calm people down; but honestly, he's not the person to do it. His devout followers seem to believe his every word, but even some of them don't. Mike Pence also doesn't seem like the best person to put in charge. Really now. Why not let the Surgeon General or someone at CDC do it? Having Pence do it makes it look political. So far as I can see, the Surgeon General is a sensible person -- and a doctor too.
Using the word "hoax" was unfortunate. I knew Trump meant the Democrats would try to spin things; but the way he put it made it sound as if there was no such thing as a corona virus except in the minds of Democrats. Limbaugh also didn't help when he said it was the common cold.
While accusing the Democrats of politicizing it (and that may be right in some cases), it is obvious that Trump himself and his pals are also politicizing it. I'd like to have a President who could calm people when they start to get fearful because they actually believe what the President says. We need a President devoted more to telling the truth than trying to put his own spin on the facts to benefit him politically.