There is way higher number of situation where US Americans need to have 1000$ ready.
- don't need to keep beating the dead horse about American healthcare
- cars. In most European countries a car is not absolutely vital. A lot of America is "drive til you qualify", and car issues can easily be above a grand. You need a car to go even to the closest store many times, so quarantine would not really get rid of your need for a car.
you're talking about cities, in rural places, europe is not different than the US.
We live just ouside a mid-sized UK town (and cities down to small/mid sized towns covers a really high % of the population). Between public transport and good cycle/pedestrian routes, a car is not a major living requirement for many.