In our state of over 4 million people, we have a little over 800 deaths.
In Finland - Pop. ~5.5M There has been 374 - with only 70 added since May. There hasn't really been lockdowns here, just a lot of suggestions and no international travel of course. Early on, there was some restrictions on intercity travel - but not for long.
You are right about health safety being a potential umbrella. I think it might be worse in the US as there is also less health coverage for many people, meaning getting ill is a nightmare and can carry extreme costs. In Europe, this isn't much of an issue, as pretty much everyone is covered to some degree - Finland that degree is pretty decent. The driver is of course fear again - health is a good one because you don't have to have war or terrorist attacks to generate the fear.
