What if Covid-19 had started in the US

We do not know if Covid-19 was the result of a natural mutation, or whether it was an accidental lab leak. From what I have seen there is at least a 20% chance it was a lab leak.

The results were devastating:

• 7 million direct deaths
• 20 million excess deaths
• A 3.3% contraction in global GDP
• Around US$13 trillion economic damage

As far as I can see, there has never been any serious suggestion that the Chinese Government has some culpability for this, and should be held accountable. And to be clear, I am not suggesting they should be.

But consider what the reaction would have been if Covid-19 had started in the US, and there was a significant chance it was a lab leak. I imagine we would have:

• The majority of UN member countries demanding reparations from the US
• A global commission that would assign blame to the US
• Multiple articles about how the US inflicted the worst disaster on the world than anything outside WWII
• A global campaign to close down all US laboratories that do research such as may have led to the lab leak
• The US labeled as a creator of genocide