Something like the flu barely moves the needle. In earlier generations, disease, childbirth, and accidents were major killers. We've largely removed them from the equation, which is part of the reason this epidemic is so rare for us.

Our ancestors faced events of this magnitude at regular intervals. They'd probably scoff at our alarm over a ~2% death, but at the same time, if this same disease had passed through a society without modern health care, it could easily have been a serious plague. I think keeping our health system functioning throughout the crisis is the number 1 goal of how they're trying to manage this disease.