Last Updated on April 21, 2020
Germany has now joined other countries in drawing up costs for economic damage caused by the Covid-19 global pandemic which has ground top economies to a screeching halt.
German tabloid Bild cooked up an invoice for total reparations owed to the EU’s economic powerhouse, blaming China for the outbreak.
According to The Express:
The list includes a €27 billion charge for lost tourism revenue, up to €7.2 billion for the German film industry, a million euros an hour for German airline Lufthansa and €50 billion for German small businesses.
Bild calculated that this amounts to €1,784 (£1,550) per person if Germany’s GDP falls by 4.2 percent, under the title “What China owes us.”
The United Kingdom, United States, and France have all pointed the finger at China for the outbreak; in particular, for an alleged disinformation campaign and lack of transparency during the crucial initial phase of the coronavirus outbreak.
As a response to the tabloid’s invoice to China, such content supposedly “stirs up xenophobia and nationalism.”
Recently, China revised the Wuhan cumulative death toll up by 50% and attempted to assure press that there was no cover-up, there never had been a cover-up, and that the Chinese Communist Party does not permit cover-ups.
Speaking about the origin of the outbreak President Donald Trump told reporters: “It could have been stopped in China before it started and it wasn’t, and the whole world is suffering because of it.
“If it was a mistake, a mistake is a mistake. But if they were knowingly responsible, then there should be consequences.”
Trump later speculated as to whether the deadly coronavirus was released intentionally or “a mistake that got out of control.”
A United Kingdom think tank, The Henry Jackson Society, estimated the economic damage to the G7 following China’s handling of the outbreak to be in the vicinity of $4 trillion.
Japan recently earmarked over $2 billion to assist manufacturing companies to move away from China.
At the beginning of the global crisis, a Danish newspaper caused controversy after a cartoon poked fun at the Chinese flag, replacing the stars with little viruses.
