I think rather it is ultimately about fear; governments merely exploit fear to push their policies. To be clear, I nearly entirely agree with you. I just think that government narratives are not the ultimate source of this irrationality. The ultimate source is fear.

Another classic example: Few people fear dying in a car accident, but many people fear dying a plane crash, despite the relative probabilities being skewed entirely in the other direction. This irrationality is not part of any government narrative, it is simply fueled by fear.

Humans are terrible at rationally evaluating risks and, especially when trained by the media they consume, fear the dumbest things (dying in a mass shooting vs. dying in a police shooting, plane crashes vs. car crashes, immigrants vs. other community members, brain-eating amoebas vs. swimming pools, etc. etc.).

Actually yes, you've put it better than me. On reflection, my comment does seem like I point to governments as the ultimate source, but really it is fear itself, which in turn is exploited by govs.