1. There isn't much trust in what the government is saying at the moment, especially since their communication is usually mismanaged, incorrect or contradictory. For example, some states have passed laws/orders blocking the public release of COVID data.
2. People are also afraid of simply getting COVID, not just dying from it. It has been shown to cause permanent health issues even in young people.
It really has not at all. How can we show "permanent" issues for something less than half a year old? Anyone who's had pneumonia before knows it causes a lot of upfront damage. I had it back in University and it took a week before I could get out of bed and nearly a month before my lungs didn't feel like bricks. I was still coughing for 2~3 months after.
Today I am 100% recovered. Everything I've seen in the fear-mongering "permanent damage" news articles looks to be the same effects as any non-covid pneumonia. We won't KNOW if any of this is permanent until March 2021, but I think it's highly unlikely.
But it's important to note, permanent damage is literally impossible to determine right now. Simply not enough time has passed.
Not OP but a quick Google search found this. I have also read plenty of articles of a similar nature. It doesn't take much work to find a reputable source for this type of information.
Long term may be a better description than permanent. But we don't know and won't know for a while what long term complications are caused. Look at HIV, you get a cold and then nothing maybe for years, then everything falls to pieces. It may not be as severe as HIV and it may be more severe than pneumonia. Why do you want to take that risk when you can avoid it with some simple precautions? If it turns out that these aren't permanent then you can go and catch it next year, no need to rush in now is there.
You can use Google. It's not hard to find. As for true studies, there probably aren't any. We're talking about a virus that has only been known about for less than a year.
The horrific death totals early on have completely skewed people's opinions of the severity of this disease. It's not a binary live/die, there are all kinds of other complications associated with it and too many people seem to think that spending 3 weeks in the ICU is no big deal because "hey, you survived".
2. People are also afraid of simply getting COVID, not just dying from it. It has been shown to cause permanent health issues even in young people.