(Editor’s note: This column was adjusted at 10:20 p.m. ET to reflect the UFC’s announcement the upcoming schedule will proceed).

Just two weeks ago, President Donald J. Trump’s take on coronavirus was that “it’s going to disappear. One day, like a miracle, it’s going to disappear.”

Less than a week ago, the sports executive with the closest public ties to Trump, UFC president Dana White, blithely declared “I don’t give a (expletive) about the coronavirus” in an interview with TSN.

As the Twitter saying goes, that aged well.

Wednesday likely will go down as one of the darker days in our nation’s recent history, as Trump’s bumbling, incoherent address to the nation on the worldwide pandemic had the effect of pouring gasoline and lighting a match, leading to the stock market instantly tanking and ordinary folks hoarding canned goods like doomsday preppers.

Responsible leaders in state and local government and in the corporate world stepped in to fill the federal government’s gaping void Thursday, with large gatherings banned for various periods of times in several states, municipalities shutting down schools, and major companies allowing employees to work from home.

Proactive efforts were perhaps most visible in the major sports world. The NBA struck the cultural landscape like a lighting bolt on Wednesday night by suspending play as soon as the news broke that Rudy Gobert of the Utah Jazz tested positive for the virus. This, along with the news that Oscar-winning actor Tom Hanks and wife Rita Wilson tested positive for the virus in Australia, finally got it through the skulls of all but the densest among us that this is serious business.

And that brings us back to the UFC.

The rest of the sports world indeed gave a (expletive) about coronavirus and fell into line soon after the NBA’s unprecedented announcement. The NCAA first attempted to move the men’s and women’s basketball tournaments behind closed doors, then gave up the ghost and canceled the events entirely (Hey, basketball fans in Indiana, Kentucky, North Carolina and Kansas: Is America great again yet?). Major League Soccer suspended its season indefinitely. Major League Baseball canceled spring training and plans on delaying the start of its regular season. The NHL appeared to be dragging its feet simply by being the last among those in-season major team sports leagues to put things on hold.

The sports company with the loudest mouthpiece was quietest about its intentions, which left us to read the tea leaves in order to divine its intentions.

Thursday night, White appeared on ESPN’s “SportsCenter” and stated the upcoming schedule will continue, with some changes.

Saturday’s UFC on ESPN+ 28 in Brasilia, Brazil, will continue on without fans after the state shut down large gatherings. Both a March 28 event in Columbus, Ohio, and an April 11 card in Portland, Ore., will move to the UFC Apex facility in Las Vegas behind closed doors after the governors of those respective states issued similar bans. The March 21 card in London, as of now, will proceed with fans being admitted.

Throw in Bellator 241, nearly alone in the sporting world, proceeding at Mohegan Sun Arena on Friday night on Mohegan tribal land in Connecticut without fans, and this seems to hint that the sport of mixed martial arts in North America is collectively taking a “show must go on” approach and looks to keep their multimillion dollar content machines cranking, only without fans in attendance.

On the surface, yes, absolutely, having fight cards in front of thousands fewer people is obviously better than continuing with business as usual. But also consider this: The NBA pulled the plug after one player tested positive, knowing how easily the virus can be transmitted in a sport like basketball.

Dana White doesn’t want to lose the April 18 fight between Khabib Nurmagomedov and Tony Ferguson at UFC 249.

Now consider Saturday night’s UFC on ESPN+ 28. There are 24 fighters representing 12 countries on the event. The non-Brazilians are flying in from all over the world. They’re passing through airports, staying at hotels, going through fight-week activities in close quarters with the UFC’s behind-the-scene staffers (who, trust me, as someone who has been on this beat 14 years, are some of the hardest-working, good-at-their-jobs people you’ll ever encounter). They’re cutting weight and thus weakening their immune systems. And then they’re going to compete in combat.

All it takes is one of those fighters rolling on the mats in the gym with an infected fighter traveling to the show during the incubation period, becoming infectious during fight week, and setting off quite a chain reaction.

Then the process repeats in a different city every week. Even if all events end up in Las Vegas for the foreseeable future, the promotion is still bringing in a fresh crew of fighters from all over.

Perhaps the UFC truly is coming up with a above-and-beyond process of putting together a belated but comprehensive policy that will give real thought to the unique circumstances of the situation — maybe this isn’t the right time to financially penalize fighters for weight misses, just to name one.

But at this point, whatever comes down is too late to change perception. The UFC is already the sports entity that took too long to respond in the face of a pandemic. Just like the President for whom White stumps dragged his feet, which put us all in the mess in the first place.

It’s past due time to start giving a (expletive) about this.