Five Floridian plaintiffs have filed a class action lawsuit challenging the Chinese governmentโs handling of the coronavirus outbreak.
The coronavirus class action lawsuit was filed by Logan Alters, Marta Reyes, Lawrence Wood, Stephen Clyne, and The Pitching Lab, also known as TBT Training.
The five plaintiffs argue that it was due, at least in part, to the Chinese governmentโs mishandling of the coronavirus outbreak that the issue turned into a worldwide pandemic.
They seek to represent two Classes of people affected by the outbreak โ a Class of all those in the United States affected by the outbreak, and a subclass of parties in Florida affected by the outbreak.
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None of the plaintiffs have caught the coronavirus, but according to the pandemic class action lawsuit, they were still injured by the outbreak.
The coronavirus class action claims that people throughout the state of Florida, and people throughout the country were injured even if they have not been infected. They say the virus has taken an economic toll on the United States, and has caused panic, emotional distress and other injuries throughout the country.
Specifically, the plaintiffs have filed claims against the Peopleโs Republic of China, the National Health Commission of the Peopleโs Republic of China, Ministry of Emergency Management of the Peopleโs Republic of China, the Ministry of Civil Affairs of the Peopleโs Republic of China, the Peopleโs Government of Hubei Province, and the Peopleโs Government of City of Wuhan, China.
These governmental bodies were reportedly in charge of overseeing the response to the coronavirus pandemic in China, and within the city of Wuhan in the Hubei Province, where the outbreak originated.ย
The Floridians note that it has not been confirmed how the outbreak spread to what it is today, but regardless, the Chinese government did not handle the issue correctly. They also claim that their actions allowed many people around the world to be affected.ย
The coronavirus class action lawsuit states that a new strain of the virus, known as COVID-19 originated in China in December 2019, and quickly spread throughout the world.ย
The Floridians present one theory alleging that COVID-19 spread from a bio-weapon lab and then into a nearby marketplace. Allegedly, there are only two bio-weapon labs in the Peopleโs Republic of China, and one of them is the National Biosafety Laboratory at the Wuhan Institute of Virology.
According to the coronavirus pandemic class action lawsuit, this laboratory is close to the marketplace where COVID-19 originated. This laboratory is reportedly Chinaโs only โlevel 4โ microbiology lab, dealing with โthe deadliest of viruses.โ
The COVID-19 outbreak states that one theory is that COVID-19 escaped from the Wuhan lab because of lax security, or because Chinese researchers unlawfully sold lab animals to the marketplace nearby.
Researchers in China have allegedly been known to do this instead of cremating them, as is required by Chinese law.
No matter how the disease spread, the Florida residents argue the Chinese government did not respond appropriately to the outbreak.
Allegedly, the government put the safety of people around the world at risk, choosing instead to act โfrom their own self interestโ and to โprotect their place as a super-power.โ
The government did not report the outbreak as quickly as they could have, underreported cases, and did not contain the outbreak effectively, even though they knew how serious the outbreak was, the plaintiffs say.
Elaborating on these allegations, the Floridians argue that the Chinese government censored eight doctors on Jan. 1, 2020 from speaking about the outbreak and the danger associated with it. The coronavirus outbreak class action argues that even after the first person died of a COVID-19 infection on the same day, the government concealed the true dangers of the coronavirus.
The plaintiffs state that the Chinese government told the public the outbreak was under control. However, the government allegedly knew the virus was spread easily from human to human by Jan. 3 but concealed this information until Jan. 20, by which point the disease had already spread beyond China.
Chinese President Xi Jinping said he had taken measures to contain the virus on Jan. 7, but he reportedly lied in saying this, and did not take steps to contain the virus until later in the month.
Additionally, the Florida residents argue that the Chinese government waited 17 days to share the 19 genome sequence of coronavirus with peers around the world, after it had been discovered by Chinese researchers.
The plaintiffs claim that the Chinese government downplayed the severity of the virus by saying that deaths associated with coronavirus were instead caused by pneumonia.ย
The coronavirus response class action lawsuit says that this has caused injury to United States and potential Floridian Class Members not only in the form of infection by the virus, but in the form of fear, lost social contact, financial injury, emotional distress, and more.ย
The Class Members are represented by Matthew T. Moore and Vincent J. Duffy of The Law Offices of Berman & Berman PA.
The Coronavirus Outbreak Class Action Lawsuit is Logan Alters, et al. v. Peopleโs Republic of China, et al., Case No. 1:20-cv-21108-UU, in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida, Miami Division.
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305 thoughts onCoronavirus Class Action Blames China for Pandemic
Please add me!! every thing i live and work for is in jepardy today, were almost like THE WALKING DEAD!!
Add me to this class please.
Add me to this class, please.
please add me
Please add me to the list. Thank you so much.
My job, 401 K, and the stress and anxiety has effected my family and myself. I am out of work and not sure when I will be able to go back. I canโt even begin to explain how much of a hardship the Coronavirus has caused us.
Thanks, China! and our USA government for not closing borders as soon as the first case appeared! All these diseases come from China, have we not learned our lesson yet? Fear and panic, confusion on who and what to believe! I do not know how to live like this and for how long? how do we survive? The money will become a big problem for those who are poor, underpaid jobs, government assistance, disabled ect. I am in one or more of these categories! What will we do? My mom is 89 yrs old, my husband and I both have underlying health issues, Canโt go out or should I say terrified to go out and come in contact with someone exposed. Add me please!
me and my kids have many compromised health conditions. I have been hugely affected by this virus outbreak. I have canceled medical appts for my kide , eating out, grocery shopping and
other activities to keep my kids and I safe from this virus! I have lost over 1,000 dollars so far, needed for the mortgage, electric, water and cable.
no work on money
I have noticed some organizations are flooded with people calling on the phones which has triggered a lockdown on the phone lines to certain government agencies. My family has been affected
Add me to the list
I have lost my Job and am unsure of how I am now going to pay my bills
I have so much anxiety over this coronavirus. My son and I are sick and Iโm scared. I canโt look for work and I just lost my job so my bills will most likely go unpaid. China should of had a handle on this. My fear is that this will not just go away and I donโt want to live in fear the way that I am. The lady at the pharmacy gave me a tissue when I went to go sign for my sick sons prescription. How humiliating. China should have done better.