It is a fact, that hospitals around the world were nearly at their limit or running at their total limit (100% capacity).

When COVID started no one could even estimate how deadly it will be, because there was know good data about it.

So it is far away from a strawman argument. When a virus spreads as fast as COVID did and society does not expect it to be fatal for many, the worst case scenario can easily end in a revival of Black death, where a big percentage of society died. In order to make sure this does not happen it is the best strategy to react with high precaution until there is enough data to be certain that it is not as fatal. And until there are vaccines to lower the extreme harm viruses can have on the human body and its immune system.