The paper at first notes the similarities between our experience of the virus Covid 19 and radiation. That similarity evokes apocalyptic fears in relation to the pandemic. What that means is complex. The apocalyptic, or the totalism of death, for one thing has a history that changed radically in the nuclear age that began decisively on August 6, 1945. We no longer need God to end life on earth. The power of ultimate destruction lies in human hands. That changes us psychologically, and to have Covid 19 evoke the apocalyptic in its association with radiation deepens the understandable dread but also the irrational responses to the pandemic. The paper ends with the hope in developing a level of realistic fear and to enhance Kohut’s life-affirming sense of empathy.