COVID-19 and Underinvestment in the Health of the US Population

Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic has emerged as the public health challenge of our time, with more than 2 million confirmed cases worldwide. At the time of writing, based on the current rate of increase in the number of cases and daily deaths, the United States is the nation with the highest numbers of cases and deaths due to the global pandemic. While uncertainty remains about the eventual scale of health harms and societal impact, it seems clear that the United States has proven particularly susceptible to the spread of COVID-19 and the costs associated with containing it.