Honestly, for a european to watch americans discuss politics is like for us to watch a game of american football: It is wildly amusing but you don't understand a thing.
I work 12-hour shifts with these patients, so I would say no, it's not a hoax. It is not the black plague, death tolls are not so different from the ordinary seasonal flu (maybe double, at least this far, in Sweden) but people ARE dying, some of them are quite young and otherwise healthy, and some die despite maximum intensive care.
I do believe that the Swedish model is working out quite well, you cannot close down whole countries in house arrest forever. The virus will still be there when you open up, and it will start all over again. Group immunity or whole world vaccination are the only solutions.
The theories that the virus is man made and that the whole pandemic is part of some kind of an illuminati conspiracy belong somewhere among the flat earth and anti-vaxxer movements IMHO, even if there of course are a lot of ways to make money of the pandemic if you are in the right place. The virus itself though comes from people living too close to live animals.
plandemicmovie.com
