Someday, someone will write a detailed analysis of the growing concern about the coronavirus and they will note how nothing made Americans take it more seriously than when they heard Tom Hanks had it.
You know what I wish? I wish no one's response to all this was being affected one way or another by whether they love or hate Donald Trump. And I'm not suggesting mine isn't, though when it's me, I would change "love or hate" to "respect or don't respect." I don't like the idea of the word "hate" being directed at another human being no matter how horrible he or she is.
We just have too many folks who are denying the threat, not because of any actual medical information but because they're afraid it will hurt their candidate's chances, and too many who may be exaggerating because they're so eager to see that guy gone. The two overreactions are not really equivalent because in a case like this, if you err, it's prudent to err on the side of caution. The guys who are going around saying, "It's a hoax! Let's all shake hands and cough in each others' faces!" are willing to err on the side of reckless.
I do like the quote from Neil deGrasse Tyson: "We're in the middle of an experiment. And the experiment is to see how many people listen to scientists."
I'm of course intrigued about how TV shows are dealing with it. I'm going to post a few thoughts about that later today. Right now, I'm going to see if I can get it off my mind long enough to write something for which I will get paid…that is, assuming the company I'm writing it for doesn't shut down. Maybe I'd better type faster.