Indulge me for a moment and presume that it can be shown that COVID-19 was an engineered virus, designed in a Chinese laboratory for whatever purpose. Further presume that the release of this virus was accidental.
Nobody big, who matters, is discussing this publicly at the moment, but it will be discussed in circles beyond this pathetic little blog. There are computer algorithms that exist for making predictions for this sort of viral release. The US has them, Russia has them, China has them and they are used at places such as the CDC and the Pentagon to forecast. They're not new algorithms.
The Daily Mail (UK) has reporters who are reporting on these forecasts (link here). The headline at the link reads, "15 MILLION people will die and the global economy will take a $2.3 TRILLION hit from coronavirus in the BEST-CASE scenario, new study predicts."
It could be worse. Some scenario variations show deaths three or four times that high and the article explores that as well.
"Some countries' economies could shrink by eight per cent in a global meltdown."
My personal trust of US journalistic outlets is at an all time low, so for the moment, let's just hang with the foreign broadcasts, and expect that they are more reliable than the New York Times or the Washington Post. I'm not suggesting that the British are more pure, but in terms of politics, let's call them a little more reliable, these days. If you're interested, read the article. It offers a range of outcomes.
Now, loop back to the cause of this situation - an engineered virus - presuming again that it can be shown that China is responsible for knowingly and deliberately creating the virus. An accidental release from their laboratory isn't a cause to go to war, but it is clearly going to create torts on a Biblical scale, isn't it? How will that be addressed, or will it be swept under the rug in the interest of international love and cooperation? I put that question to this blog's readership.
Rice Bowls - never let a good crisis go to waste
The US Military and in particular, the US Coast Guard is taking steps toward limiting exposure of the virus coming to American shores by sea (more here). Expect them to dip into the $8 billion that Congress appropriated to fight COVID-19. They claim that their IT structure needs an upgrade. Of course it does.
US Homeland Security will dip hard into that pot of cash as will intelligence agencies and very soon, they'll all be back at Congress, hat in hand, asking for more. That's how the game is played.