The host of The Last American Vagabond once made a great point in a panel discussion. SARS-CoV may have been a real virus, but wasn't anywhere near as dangerous as it was made to be, or it could have been re-branded flu or it might not have existed at all.

It doesn't really matter which of those is true. The effects of authoritarianism and fracturing of public belief in each other and systems is the real disease, and it's still eating away at everyone's brain.