I would put it more broadly. COVID was put in service of continuing culture wars and political infighting, like literally everything else. People hate each so much they would rather have death (for them or for themselves) than agree. It's crazy. Everything politicized, even goddamn PPE and vaccination.

> those who were already "government inclined"

It isn't so much "government inclined", or even left versus right, it's in-tribe vs out-tribe. Some tribes, clearly, have only become more entrenched and delusional.