The mindset that we can avoid all risk by staying in lockdown is wrong. The most at risk are people over 70. They already have a 6%+ percent chance of dying every year.
The press in Netherlands showed the different ways of communicating a "lockdown". Though the actions were often similar, the way it was worded to the public differed quite a bit across countries. E.g. France talked about "going to war" (or something similar, cannot recall exactly). Spain and Italy both had different ways of announcing the same.
Trying to only protect/lock down people in a risk group (70+, plus overweight / lung problems) seems not to have worked. The virus spread already quickly despite a lockdown for all. It'll probably spread more quickly if that wasn't the case.