Mass hysteria does not arise out of a vacuum. Fear is merely a spark, but whether that spark burns out or turns into a raging wildfire depends entirely on whether the ideas, sentiments, and social conditions of that time provide fuel for the spark to burn.
This virus should merely have been another footnote in history alongside the 1957 Asian Flu, the 1968 Hong Kong Flu, or the 2009 Swine Flu, and barely worth a mention compared to vicious pandemics like the 1918 Spanish Flu. Instead, we have uncontrolled hysteria and draconian unscientific public health measures that annihilate the rights and freedoms of individuals on a level not seen since the bubonic plague swept through medieval Europe.
Nor can the current hysteria be fully explained by the schemes of political opportunists, click-hungry medias, UN agendas, and Davos elites. They certainly play a huge role in driving the hysteria. But would-be conspirators and opportunists trying to exploit the crowd are a dime a dozen in any age. There is no point in history when there isn’t someone screaming that "the end is nigh", trying to sell us snake oil, or trying to frighten people into joining them on some ideological Crusade. Whether they gain traction or are left shouting into the wind depends entirely on whether the people themselves either provide fertile soil or barren ground for their bad ideas.
All of which raises the question, what made society so uniquely vulnerable to losing its mind during the current COVID hysteria?