It’s so discouraging to see how little coordinated response we have made as a nation to the coronavirus pandemic. What’s worse is to see the partisan divide actually encouraging people to believe the threat is not serious.

I live in a village in rural Michigan on a major highway on the way to Traverse City, a popular resort destination. We have a popular bar/restaurant here, a frequent stopping point for tourists on their way to or from Traverse City.

The restaurant is usually quite crowded because it’s the only decent place to go for miles around, and because it gets that tourist trade.

Sadly, where I live, the coronavirus hoax thing is hot. Even though Michigan is seeing a surge in hospitalizations right now, people here are convinced the epidemic is not real or is not serious.

I mean, it’s a religious belief, and people are highly emotional about it. So many people here are certain the pandemic was exaggerated to hurt their hero Donald Trump.

So, the restaurant in question has stopped enforcing state health code requirements. They don’t make customers wear masks even though they are legally required to. They do not collect names and phone numbers for contact tracing even though they are legally required to. They let the bar get elbow to elbow crowded even though they are legally required to space customers out.

And all the while, the place is full of people from downstate and Chicago bringing the virus to us.

It’s enormously sad and infuriating at the same time.