The concept is not political, but it is absolutely a political talking point. It's a mechanism to shift blame and attention. Even in your recap China (the whole country) is phrased as the dastardly villain while our utter ineptitude and attempts to hide/ignore the rising risk for a much LONGER period of time are cast as simple missteps. Who is the victim here anyway?
It's amusing to see some posters' thoughts evolve perfectly in line and in time with shifting talking points...
-It's like the flu
-Everyone's panicking
-Warm weather bro!
-Quarantine China! Italy, you cool bro
-Bat Soup!
-It'll never make it here to BFE
-Testing is ramping up
-Testing is overrated anyway, it's too late for testing
-Cases are under-counted, still just like the flu
-Deaths are over-counted, flu bro...
-My personal favorite... buy the dip!
-They were going to die anyways
-I'm not saying it's worse than the flu, but the olds had a good run
-It's everywhere (I got the black lung pops) Even here in BFE!
-Herd immunity... BINGO!
-Cure can't be worse than the disease!
-Open or riot!