Democrats, Pavlovian conditioned by years of believing everything Trump does is "an existential threat," are about twice as likely as Republicans to say the coronavirus poses an imminent danger. Make a joke of it—pandemic or Dempanic—but one's political party should not affect how we respond to an epidemic.

"Our hyper-polarization is so strong that we don't even assess a potential health crisis in the same way. And so it impedes our ability to address it," saidsaid Jennifer McCoy, a Georgia State political science professor who studies polarization.

 "I am not scared of Covid-19," Abdu Sharkawy, an infectious disease expertat the University of Toronto in Canada,an infectious disease expert wrote.

"I am scared about the loss of reason and wave of fear that has induced the masses of society into a spellbinding spiral of panic."

This is not about downplaying something serious. It is about preventing mistakes that will make things worse. Trump Derangement Syndrome might actually help kill us this time, as fear makes for poor public health decisions. Remember the 1980's.