Whatever metaphysical forces may or may not have been involved, I've seen the government's Covid response described as a three-pronged psychological attack. In essence, they ran the Milgram authority test (down to the scientist in the lab coat), the Stanford prison experiment (empowering people with a little authority to abuse the non-compliant or those deemed lesser by the powers-that-be), and the Asch conformity test (people will go against what they know to be right when faced with a consensus of people claiming their belief is incorrect; this was made possible and enforced by the censorship brigade).

In the face of all the psychic pressure, lots of people just folded. Also, the institutions scared the crap out of everyone, and it's hard to make intelligent decisions when you are afraid.