It isn't about the death toll, it is the load it places on...

It isn't about the death toll, it is the load it places on everything else including the hospitals and the staff that then get sick and can no longer care for the patients. it is then the parents that have to stay home from work to look after their sick kids and then in turn get sick. They then can't work and it continues to roll on and thus impact the economy.

Putting people in quarantine is all about reducing the peak and spreading it out over a longer period of time to give the hospital services an opportunity to cope.