Yes it will happen in the same time period as real life. Were still in late 2016 in the TL.
Okay. I understand, as it started in China and has nothing to do with American politics.
A better President like Hillary Clinton, John Kasich, Bernie Sanders, or Jen Bush could have minimized the impact of the Coronavirus in the US and kept the deaths down to about 1,500.
That’s a bit unrealistic tbh. Having it be under 100,000(akin proportionately to Canada) is more realistic. Having President Clinton, Romney in his second term, or someone who wasn’t on the Apprentice there would have caused fewer people to die, but the virus spreads too rapidly for your scenario to work.
Ted Cruz, Chris Christie, Scott Walker, Mike Huckabee, Jim Webb, and Rand Paul would have handled the Coronavirus poorly as well. I think that Marco Rubio probably handles the Coronavirus pretty good as well if he was elected.