Never forget: The people who became billionaires from covid
In March 2021, nearly every country in the world had more billionaires than they did at the outset of the pandemic in mid-March 2020. Amongst these new billionaires were 40 people who became new billionaires practically overnight solely from covid. At the same time that these billionaires were getting richer, hundreds of millions were getting poorer and hundreds of millions more were driven to extreme poverty. | In February 2021, the World Economic Forum reported that according to the International Labour Organisation, 114 million jobs were lost in 2020 and others saw their working hours reduced due to covid restrictions. “The ongoing crisis has disrupted labour markets around the world at an unprecedented scale.” Since the covid pandemic began, Oxfam reported, vulnerable communities around the world have been sending a clear, urgent and repeated message: “Hunger may kill us before coronavirus.” Oxfam noted it was the greatest rise in inequality.