Let's be honest here. If Trump had shut down everything in December and only 4 Americans died, the news stories would be about how Trump killed the economy over a hoax scare because of his unchecked authoritarian impulses.
So you're saying the most important factor is about how POTUS is treated by the media, not how many Americans die of a global pandemic? In the long run, we'll see how our country does relative to others and decide the merits of his actions or inactions. Right now, the US is #1 in COVID19 cases and failing to adequately contain them relative to the rest of the world.
And if you want to compare this to Obama -- go ahead. An Ebola outbreak that reached American shores. And SARS. At least I didn't have to stay at home for 2 months because Obama didn't think it was a big deal and could stand to have cable news attack him for alarmism.
Priorities.