MERS and SARS indeed had much worse mortality, but had 2 positives going for them: contagious only during symptoms (that's a BIGGY), plus had such a high rate of severity they were noticed immediately to track cases like they were shipments of plutonium.
Difference here with our current SARS-CoV-2: contagious BEFORE symptoms, too many cases spread before appropriate response was taken. Cats out of the bag. Yes, lower mortality but still major.
Do you think the whole world cares about changing the 2020 election in the US? No.
Leaders worldwide decided to take action once they comprehended the real potential. If this virus was not managed, society would have broken. Numbers like 100-250k dead are the projections WITH the current measures in place to reduce spread. Without any heavy measures taken, you're talking minimum millions stateside, mostly directly but also indirectly. On the way to arriving at those millions, societies will break into mass pandemonium. What do you think would happen to the economy then?