COVID-19 takes $16 trillion toll

The Covid-19 pandemic will exact a $16 trillion toll on the U.S. — four times the cost of the Great Recession — when adding the costs of lost lives and health to the direct economic effect, according to former U.S. Treasury Secretary Lawrence Summers and fellow Harvard University economist David Cutler.

About half of that amount is related to lost gross domestic product as a result of economic shutdowns and the ongoing spread of the virus, while the other half comes from health losses including premature death and mental and longterm health impairments, Cutler and Summers wrote in an essay published online Monday in in the Journal of the American Medical Association.

“The immense financial loss from Covid-19 suggests a fundamental rethinking of government’s role in pandemic preparation,” the authors wrote. “Currently, the U.S. prioritizes spending on acute treatment, with far less spending on public health services and infrastructure.”