Commission: ‘COVID-19 Cost US $18 Trillion, 1.5 Million Deaths’ (Worthy News Focus)
By Stefan J. Bos, Chief International Correspondent Worthy News
WASHINGTON/BEIJING (Worthy News) – A commission set up by one of America’s most influential conservative think tanks estimates that the COVID-19 pandemic originating in China cost the United States nearly 1.5 million “excess deaths” and $18 trillion in financial losses.
The Heritage Foundation’s Nonpartisan Commission on China and COVID-19 concluded, however, that despite these astronomical damages, the U.S. government failed to hold China to account for its “unacceptable negligence and malfeasance.”
The report seen by Worthy News estimated that as of December 2023, the pandemic’s total financial cost in the U.S. topped $18 trillion after taking into account several ways in which the pandemic affected the economy.
That figure includes more than $8.6 trillion caused by excess deaths; more than $1.825 trillion in lost income; $6 trillion due to chronic conditions such as “long COVID”; and mental health losses of $1 trillion and educational losses of $435 billion pushed the total above $18 trillion.
“The COVID-19 pandemic has exacted a staggering toll on the United States, both in human lives and in economic terms. The total estimated cost of $18.007 trillion is a stark reminder of the profound impact this global health crisis has had on the nation,” the commission wrote. “By understanding and acknowledging these costs, we can lay the groundwork for holding accountable those whose negligence or overt actions exacerbated the pandemic’s severity.”
John Ratcliffe, a Visiting Fellow for national security and intelligence at The Heritage Foundation, said a “strong preponderance of evidence supports our assessment that a research-related incident in [the Chinese city of] Wuhan was most likely the source of the initial outbreak. But our assertion of Chinese culpability holds regardless of how the initial spillover happened, whether from a laboratory accident or, as some allege, as a result of China’s illegal wildlife trade. Either way, what followed was a coverup.”
CONTAINING OUTBREAK
In comments seen by Worthy News, he stressed that “Beijing could have contained the outbreak early on by alerting its own citizens—and the world—to the threat. Instead, the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) maximized COVID-19’s spread and impact by destroying samples, hiding records, imprisoning journalists, gagging scientists, blocking international investigations, and lying to and seeking to co-opt the World Health Organization.”
He added that “no matter who wins in November, preparing for the next pandemic needs to be a top priority for America’s leaders. An essential first step must be holding the last pandemic’s main culprit—the Chinese government—accountable.”
That could include filing for damages by those impacted by the pandemic, he suggested. “Our report lays out a blueprint for the next administration to hold China accountable. One of our most important recommendations is that the U.S. government empower American victims of COVID-19 to hold Chinese entities liable through mass tort class action lawsuits.”
The report noted there were 1,476,457 excess deaths in the US from 2020 to 2022 during the height of the pandemic.
It added that the pandemic was “the most disruptive and costly event of the 21st century” and that the worldwide excess deaths from COVID were estimated to be 28 million.
That’s why Ratcliffe said, “Accountability today is important to our safety tomorrow. Without it, every authoritarian state official facing similar circumstances in the future will be incentivized to follow the CCP’s COVID-19 playbook of lies and obfuscation.”
FUTURE PANDEMICS
However, “Our world remains dangerously and unnecessarily at risk for future pandemics because we’ve collectively failed to establish accountability for the last one,” he warned.
“By holding the Chinese government accountable today, our leaders can save countless American and other lives tomorrow.”
While there was no immediate reaction from the White House, decision-makers often watch reports involving The Heritage Foundation.
Founded in 1973, it took a leading role in the conservative movement in the 1980s during the presidency of Ronald Reagan.
His policies were at least partly taken from Heritage Foundation studies, including its Mandate for Leadership, Worthy News learned.
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