Not as many people have been infected by corona as we initially had feared.
There are less people who are sick from corona than we thought.
ご質問ありがとうございます。
①
"Not as many people have been infected by corona"＝「コロナに感染した人たちはそれほど多くない」
"as we initially had feared."＝「私たちが最初に恐れていたように。」
②
"There are less people who are sick from corona"＝「コロナで病気になった人達は～よりも少ない」
"than we thought."＝「私たちが思っていたよりも。」
ご参考に！
There aren't as many people who are sick with COVID like everyone thinks.
この場合、次のような言い方ができますよ。
ーThere aren't as many people who are sick with COVID like everyone thinks.
「みんなが思っているほどコロナにかかっている人は多くない」
people who are sick with COVID で「コロナに感染している人たち」と言えます。
ご参考まで！
アメリカ合衆国 
カナダ 
