the pandemic because of its (nominally) free market health care system, and yet we see European nations with their socialized medicine and government safety nets struggling to keep a lid on the pandemic.

And if the US is as bad as Europe in the terms of progress of the pandemic, then where are all these persons who are supposedly dying from coronavirus hidden? I could accept the argument that without widespread testing we are missing thousands of asymptomatic or mild cases of the disease, but thousands of deaths?

You're wandering into Tinfoil Hat Conspiracy Theories if your argument is that there are thousands of coronavirus deaths in the US that are being hidden or missed. But I expect we will see that very argument from the Media and the Democrats this week if it there isn't a sudden spike in coronavirus deaths to support their "WE'RE ALL GONNA DIE!!!" narrative.