We have been hit so hard by COVID-19. And due to our government’s purposeful mismanagement of the pandemic, COVID survivors and those that have lost loved ones due to the pandemic have borne a disproportionate emotional, physical, and economic impact, which has exacerbated long-existing inequities.

More data emerges every day about the mental and emotional toll of this compounded trauma. In a recent survey, more than 80% of those harmed by COVID said that they have either sought or think they would benefit from mental health services to process their experiences during the pandemic.

Native, Black, and Latinx people were about three times more likely to be hospitalized and about twice as likely to die from a COVID-19 infection compared to their white peers.

The unemployment rate for Black workers was 3.4 percentage points higher than it was for White workers. The unemployment rate for Hispanic workers was 5.3 percentage points higher than it was for non-Hispanic workers. Hispanic women have borne of the worst economic impacts, experiencing an unemployment rate of over 20% at the peak of the crisis.

Our government must provide restitution or reparations to survivors and families of victims, because the government is accountable for exacerbating these health and financial inequities and ongoing pain and suffering. We must also repay essential workers for their service and sacrifice during the pandemic, because our leaders’ decisions forced them into harm’s way unnecessarily.

The need is there. The Federal Emergency Management Agency launched a program for funeral reimbursement for COVID-19 burial assistance and was immediately overwhelmed. We are struggling!

Congress must fund a compensation program for families of victims and survivors of COVID-19, similar to the 9/11 Victims Compensation Fund and the Crime Victims Fund. Financial compensation should cover out-of-pocket medical costs, mental health counseling, funerals/burials, pain and suffering, and loss of earnings.

Sign the petition: Congress must provide restitution to the victims of COVID-19 they originally neglected.