A virus is simply a piece of information. A piece of information that enters our body and makes it do things that is not in its best interests.
When the threat is tangible and indisputable – people are actually dying – we all suddenly come together on ideas that we struggle to otherwise agree on:
1) we need to screen everyone entering the country
2) we need to pay for the healthcare of others
3) we need to sacrifice some our freedoms and liberty for the better good of everyone else
The reason we are so unprepared for this virus is because we have all collectively chosen to ignore the intangible viruses – misinformation, distrust, ignorance, anger, etc – that were setting the stage all these years.