The coronavirus pandemic took nearly two million lives worldwide and caused unprecedented economic devastation this year, but 2020 had at least three big winners who came out stronger in spite of – or perhaps because of – the pandemic: the world’s billionaires, Silicon Valley’s tech lords, and communist China, where the virus originated. . .

China’s communist regime is sounding increasingly triumphalist in the wake of the economic destruction wreaked by the pandemic that originated in Wuhan and could have been prevented by Beijing. China’s communist dictator Xi Jinping boasted in his New Year’s Eve address that China is “the first major economy worldwide to achieve positive growth” in 2020, while the rest of the world’s economy shrank. . .

Never was the old cliché that “the rich get richer” truer than in 2020. The wealth of the world’s super-rich broke new records this year, according to a report conducted by PwC and the Swiss bank UBC. The combined wealth of the world’s over 6,000 billionaires grew to $10.2 trillion in July, blowing past the previous record of $8.9 trillion in 2017. And the number of new billionaires also grew from 2,158 in 2017 to 2,189 in 2020. All of this happened at the height of the pandemic between April and July 2020, as average people the world over were hit by economic devastation, but the world’s billionaires increased their wealth by over a quarter to 27.5 percent, the Guardian reports.

In 2020, America’s 614 billionaires increased their collective net worth by $931 billion, even as tens of millions of Americans lost their jobs. Between just March and May alone, the net wealth of these American billionaires increased by 15 percent, as over 36 million Americans were joblessness due to the pandemic. In contrast, the U.S. poverty rate rose to 11.7 percent in November, a jump of 2.4 percent since June, marking the highest single year increase since the government began tracking poverty 60 years ago. . .

Of all the monopolistic billionaires blessed by the pandemic, perhaps none have come out as victorious as the tech lords of Silicon Valley. Not only did they increase their massive wealth and monopoly power during the pandemic, they also helped get their preferred candidate elected to the White House. (Read more from “2020’s Big Winners: Billionaires, Silicon Valley Tech Lords, and Communist China” HERE)

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A worker at a Wisconsin medical facility was fired for deliberately destroying over 500 doses of the COVID-19 vaccine, a report said.

Aurora Medical Center said in a statement obtained by Fox6 that the worker at their Grafton location admitted Wednesday to intentionally removing 57 vials of Moderna’s coronavirus vaccine from a pharmacy refrigerator on Saturday.

“We are more than disappointed that this individual’s actions will result in a delay of more than 500 people receiving their vaccine,” the company said in its statement.

“This was a violation of our core values, and the individual is no longer employed by us.” (Read more from “Worker Caught Deliberately Destroying COVID Vaccines” HERE)

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Louisiana Rep.-elect Luke Letlow died on Tuesday night from complications related to the coronavirus. He was 41.

A family friend confirmed to the Monroe News-Star that Letlow died in the intensive care unit at Ochsner LSU Health in Shreveport, where he had been hospitalized with COVID-19 since Dec. 23.

“The family appreciates the numerous prayers and support over the past days but asks for privacy during this difficult and unexpected time,” his spokesman said in a statement.

The newly-elected Republican announced on Dec. 18 that he had tested positive for COVID-19 and was first quarantining at home. . .

Letlow, a married dad of two from rural Start, La., won the Pelican State’s 5th District seat in a Dec. 5 runoff race and was set to take office on Sunday. (Read more from “Louisiana Congressman-Elect Dead From COVID” HERE)

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