An important thing to remember: there is a big explosion of positive tests, but that is not the same thing as an explosion of infected people.
Before testing, there were no confirmed cases, right? That didn't mean there were no cases.
Like most respiratory illnesses, the vast majority who contract it will never even know they had it. They will be asymptomatic, or have mild symptoms not unlike a common cold or mild flu. They will have no reason to even be tested.
Of course, they can still spread it to other people. Is that worth the lockdown decrees we've seen? I don't think so, but I'm not an epidemiologist.
I do have to say, working in the grocery business, that restricting hours and shutting down restaurants is exactly the wrong thing to do. People still have to eat, and forcing them into already overcrowded grocery stores, where their "social distancing" is reduced even further, and all under reduced hours which means people can't shop when fewer people are present, creates even more opportunities for the virus to spread.
New Hampshire (where I live) is currently at 26 confirmed cases (out of 742 tested, with 208 tests pending). Zero hospitalizations: all are self-isolating at home. And zero deaths in the state.
And yet, the governor declared a ban on any planned gathering of over 50 people. All restaurants are restricted to delivery or takeout only.
That last one really gets me -- how many people are crowded in, milling around, talking and waiting for their to-go order to be ready, when instead they could be sitting down in the dining area, farther apart from one another?