We will find out in due course what this thing is or at least have a much better understanding. My general feeling is that it is highly contagious, human-to-human primarily via respiratory droplets ala SARS. With that said, based on current projections its mortality rate is likely not that high as there are likely plenty of asymptomatic carriers or patients with mild forms of the disease who haven't had confirmatory lab diagnosis.
The deaths as mentioned likely due to comorbidities, multi-organ issues, superimposed bacterial infection or sepsis in addition to poor hospital infrastructure (lack of availability of ITU, second tier hospital wards, NIV equipment, lack of intubation/ventilator assistance with a low ceiling of care for the elderly). Therefore any extrapolations around this virus pertaining to impact in the "western" world simply does not have robust enough data to do so. Honestly though I was more worried about Ebola.
A major outbreak however would be a nightmare for the NHS which despite what Matt Hancock says is nowhere near ready to cope as it has already crumbled with current pressures (have a look at how nobody even cares about A&E 4 week targets, the appalling delays in 2 week wait cancer pathways in addition to issues with EMAS and huge waiting lists for secondary care opinions)