Santelli made the remarks during an appearance on the network Thursday. The financial expert lamented the damage the health crisis was doing to financial markets in the U.S. and abroad, while suggested that the damage could be lessened by infecting “everybody.”
“Maybe we’d be better off if we just gave it to everybody, and then in a month it would be over because the mortality rate of this probably isn’t going to be any different if we did it that way,” Santelli said. “But the difference is we’re wreaking havoc on global and domestic markets.”
The virus has been having a big impact on financial markets around the world. The Dow Jones industrial average fell 970 points on Thursday, while several other domestic and foreign markets also sustained losses. Markets began tumbling early last week over fears of the virus. After a brief respite, they seem likely to continue to suffer, despite countermeasures including the Federal Reserve cutting interest rates.
The impact the coronavirus is having on the health of people who contract it seems far worse. Experts at the World Health Organization estimate that the mortality rate of COVID-19 is 3.4 percent, substantially higher than common infections like the seasonal flu.
Infecting the entire U.S. population of almost 330 million people with the coronavirus would leave an estimated total of over 11 million people dead. On a global scale, over 261 million people would be killed if the entire population of 7.7 billion were infected.
Santelli also compared the virus to influenza while noting that it wasn’t like the “generic type flu.” Medical experts say the two pathogens are unrelated, being two entirely different viruses.
Santelli has worked as an on-air editor for CNBC since 1999, and is also known as one of the key figures in the founding of the conservative “tea party” movement.
Newsweek reached out to CNBC for comment but did not receive a response in time for publication.
One notable difference of opinion on the potential impact of the virus came from President Donald Trump, who reportedly told Fox News’s Sean Hannity that he has a “hunch” that the true mortality rate is less than 1 percent on Wednesday, despite having no medical expertise.
Trump is also said to have confused the virus with the flu, asking pharmaceutical executives at a Monday meeting whether a “solid flu vaccine” might have an “impact” on COVID-19.
There were over 98,000 coronavirus cases resulting in more than 3,300 deaths around the world as of Thursday. Health officials in the U.S. have confirmed 226 cases in at least 20 states, resulting 12 deaths. Experts expect the numbers to rise substantially.
