COVID’s damages keep on coming. It killed millions in the U.S. and around the world, and nearly caused a global financial depression. The jury still isn’t out on the possibility that COVID’s long fingers won’t actually lead us into one.
A report from CNBC said from the beginning of COVID to now, the disease may have cost the U.S. economy $3.7 trillion.
On average, the yearly cost for those who contracted the disease could hit $9,000.
The CNBC numbers come from Harvard economist, David Cutler. His conclusions come from his research on chronic fatigue syndrome. It closely mirrors what COVID does to people and the symptoms and treatments are about the same.
Cutler’s totals include costs to the quality of life, earnings significantly reduced and a big jump in medical expenses for COVID’s victims. He thinks individual costs will go from $3,700 a year to $14,000 which led to his average estimate of $9,000.
Motley Fool added another cost to Cutler’s totals. It estimates that a lot of people who lost jobs during COVID ended up having to cash in retirement funds to help support themselves. In doing so, they lost employer matching money and the savings in taxes.
Looking at COVID’s costs from the workers’ compensation side, the NCCI said work comp averages for COVID hit $216,000 per claim. That’s way above the average of $53,000 for other issues.
Neither of those issues are in Cutler’s figures so COVID’s hit on the economy could be even higher than his estimate of $3.7 trillion.
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