A new report by the Heritage Foundation’s bipartisan Commission on China and COVID-19 says the COVID pandemic has cost the United States $18 trillion in economic losses and holds the Chinese government responsible.
After accounting for the various impacts the pandemic has had on the economy, the report, which FOX Business has seen exclusively in an advance copy, estimates that the total economic loss from the pandemic in the U.S. will exceed $18 trillion as of December 2023.
This figure includes more than $8.6 trillion in excess deaths, more than $1.825 trillion in lost income, $6 trillion from chronic illnesses such as “Long COVID,” $1 trillion in mental health losses, and $435 billion in education losses, for a total of more than $18 trillion.
“The COVID-19 pandemic has taken an immeasurable toll on the United States in both human lives and the economy. The estimated total cost of $18.7 trillion is a stark reminder of the devastating impact this global health crisis has had on the nation,” the committee wrote. “Understanding and acknowledging these costs lays the foundation for holding accountable those whose negligence or overt actions have exacerbated the severity of the pandemic.”
The report noted that there were 1,476,457 excess deaths in the U.S. from 2020 through 2022, at the peak of the pandemic.
In terms of lost economic output, real gross domestic product during that period was 2.5% below the level projected at the start of 2020, before the pandemic began.
He added that The Economist’s analysis has called the pandemic “the most disruptive and costliest event of the 21st century” and that excess COVID deaths worldwide are estimated at 28 million.
Regarding the origins of COVID, the committee concluded that “it is highly likely that it originated from a laboratory-related incident in Wuhan, China.”
“It remains theoretically possible that COVID-19 emerged from a wild zoonosis or from wet market spillover (a virus originating in animals is transmitted to humans) but despite four years of exhaustive testing, there is no evidential basis for either hypothesis,” the committee wrote.
The report also included a timeline of Chinese government actions as part of a “systematic cover-up” about the origins of COVID-19, beginning as late as December 2019, and its failure to take measures to contain the virus domestically.
The commissioners offered recommendations for Congress to consider in holding the Chinese Communist Party accountable for its role in the COVID-19 pandemic, including:
- It would establish a bipartisan national COVID commission to “examine China’s inaction and cover-up, and evaluate the domestic policies that have been implemented” in response to the pandemic.
- Establish a bipartisan Reparations or Compensation Task Force to cover claims for reparations against the Chinese government.
- Amend the Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act to include provisions allowing private citizens to bring COVID-related claims against the PRC, making it easier to bring civil actions against the People’s Republic of China and allowing private citizens harmed by COVID to obtain compensation.
- Decoupling U.S. government and commercial supply chains from Chinese state-owned enterprises.
- Audit all U.S. government funding of biomedical research and related research activities in China.
The committee also offered recommendations for actions the president should take, including making it a diplomatic priority to allow China to conduct an open scientific and forensic investigation into the origins of COVID and imposing economic sanctions on Chinese officials and entities that have participated in or assisted in “distorting and concealing” information related to the COVID pandemic.
“Given China’s lack of accountability itself and its disruptive role in international institutions, the committee believes that only holding the Chinese government accountable for its negligence and wrongdoings can provide both the Chinese government and other governments with the motivation and impetus to act differently in the future,” the committee members wrote.
The report said it was up to the U.S. government to act on its recommendations and said it hoped other governments would be inspired by the committee’s work, adding: “It is better to take bold action now than to ask why we didn’t do more when an even deadlier pandemic strikes in the future.”
