COVID-19 hurts US purchasing power
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The pandemic affects millions of US citizens, especially during Christmas, as federal governments fail to secure employment and assistance.
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The US is the country hardest afflicted by the pandemic, with 800,000 known COVID-19 deaths so far.
This Christmas, many US citizens will not be celebrating Christmas this year and can not afford presents for their families due to COVID-19's social and economic impact, reported The Guardian.
Amanda Starr, a single mother of three told The Guardian, “My youngest turns six on Christmas day and I can’t even get her a single present.”
Similar to millions of Americans, Starr lost her retail job at the beginning of the pandemic and has been struggling to find employment after her car was repossessed for not delivering payments. Her family is facing eviction soon, mentioned The Guardian.
Incapable government
According to the Economic Policy Institute, as of November, 15.6 million US workers are being affected by COVID-19's aftermath, 6.9 million workers are still unemployed, and 2 million workers are experiencing salary cuts.
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Unemployment in the US from the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The most recent US Census Household Pulse Survey done from 29 September to 11 October showed that about 20 million US citizens reported not having enough food to eat in the past week.
Over 44 million US citizens were recently relying on the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program and other food assistance programs.
The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program is a federal program that provides food-purchasing assistance for low-income and no-income citizens.
In addition, "food banks have reported demand is still far above pre-pandemic levels," reported The Guardian.
COVID-19 effect on the US
Since March 2020, more than 790,000 US citizens have lost their lives to COVID-19, while "some public health experts noting death counts could be as high as 20% more than official counts due to undercounting of deaths," underlined the newspaper.
According to a Johns Hopkins University tracker, the United States is the country hardest afflicted by the pandemic, with 800,000 known COVID-19 deaths as of Tuesday.
The startlingly rapid spread of Covid-19's Omicron variant has raised grave concern across the US.
President Joe Biden on Thursday predicted a "winter of severe illness and death" for the unvaccinated.
As of Friday evening, nearly 85 percent of US adults -- and 72.5 percent of the total population -- had received at least one COVID-19 vaccine dose, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
