{"id":10069,"date":"2024-10-29T06:00:00","date_gmt":"2024-10-29T11:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/cov19longhaulfoundation.org\/?p=10069"},"modified":"2024-07-09T08:31:02","modified_gmt":"2024-07-09T13:31:02","slug":"covid-pandemic-caused-whopping-18t-in-economic-damage-to-us-report","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cov19longhaulfoundation.org\/?p=10069","title":{"rendered":"COVID pandemic caused whopping $18T in economic damage to US: report"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Eric Revell, Fox Business, Published\u00a0July 8, 2024, 12:49 p.m. ET53<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A new report by the Heritage Foundation\u2019s Nonpartisan Commission on China and COVID-19 found that the COVID pandemic caused $18 trillion in economic losses to the US<\/a> and placed blame for the outbreak on the Chinese government<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

FOX Business exclusively viewed an advance copy of the report, which estimated that as of December 2023, the pandemic\u2019s total economic cost in the US topped $18 trillion after taking into account several ways in which the pandemic affected the economy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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 \u201clong COVID\u201d<\/a>; and mental health losses of $1 trillion and educational losses of $435 billion pushed the total above $18 trillion.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe 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,\u201d the commission wrote. \u201cBy understanding and acknowledging these costs, we can lay the groundwork for holding accountable those whose negligence or overt actions exacerbated the pandemic\u2019s severity.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The report noted there were 1,476,457 excess deaths in the US from 2020 to 2022 during the height of the pandemic. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In terms of lost economic output, real gross domestic product in that period was 2.5% below what was projected in early 2020 before the pandemic began.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It added that the pandemic was \u201cthe most disruptive and costly event of the 21st century\u201d and that the worldwide excess deaths from COVID were estimated to be 28 million, according to an analysis by The Economist.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Regarding the origins of COVID, the commission found that it \u201cvery likely stemmed from a research-related incident in Wuhan, China.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAlthough it remains theoretically possible that COVID-19 emerged via zoonosis in the wild or spillover in a wet market (spillover is a virus originating in animals before it passes to humans), there is no evidentiary basis for either of these hypotheses despite extensive testing over four years,\u201d the commission wrote.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The report also included a timeline of the Chinese government\u2019s actions as part of a \u201csystematic cover-up\u201d of the origins of COVID that began, at the latest, in December 2019, as well as its failure to take steps to contain the virus within its borders.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Commissioners provided recommendations for Congress to consider as it looks to hold the Chinese Communist Party accountable for its role in the COVID pandemic, which include:<\/p>\n\n\n\n