Without a concerted effort to slow the spread of the coronavirus, the U.S. economy could take a nearly $5 trillion hit over two years due to the pandemic that’s killed more than 270,000 Americans to date, according to a new study from the University of Southern California.

The economic pain inflicted by COVID-19 will result in net GDP losses of as much as $4.8 trillion, or 23%, from March 2020 through February 2022, according to projections by researchers at the USC Center for Risk and Economic Analysis of Terrorism Events, or CREATE.

The unfathomable tally is a worst-case scenario in which masks and social distancing do not become more widespread, hindering attempts to reopen the economy amid ongoing waves of infections, according to the findings published in the journal Economics of Disasters and Climate Change.

“It’s looking increasingly like we’re moving …continued .
[Source: CBS News]