Comment by russdill

The graph here could be instructive:

https://www.reuters.com/world/us/us-coronavirus-hospitalizat...

It varies widely by state/county, etc, but in most of the US, hospitalizations were pretty low still in April. The first peak was around August which was my experience, and the second peak was around January 2021.

So as far as "A bunch of medical professionals shaking in their shoes waiting for something that never came", they were waiting for what was actually coming.