@article{article_1754041, title={How Much Labor Was Lost in the US During the Covid-19 Pandemic}, journal={International Journal of Thermodynamics}, volume={28}, pages={292–295}, year={2025}, DOI={10.5541/ijot.1754041}, author={Özilgen, Mustafa}, keywords={Loss of work power, COVID-19, PCR test, discordant results, false negative results, false positive results}, abstract={The US National Center for Health Statistics published the ages of patients who died in the US during the pandemic, as well as the numbers of false-negative and false-positive PCR tests. Assessment of the data showed that roughly 33.9 × 109 J of work power is lost. A cyclist may do 3,709 kJ, a weight lifter may do 3,950 kJ, a rugby player may do 3,716 kJ, and a golfer may do 2,413 kJ of work in a day. Therefore, the total loss of work potential during the pandemic would be equivalent to the work power utilized by an elite athlete biker in 91x105 days, a weight lifter in 85x105 days, a rugby player in 91x105 days, and a golfer in 15x106 days. The disease transmission rate and the reliability of the data may be substantially different in different countries and age groups; therefore, this may lead to different global work power loss results.}, number={4}, publisher={Uluslararası Uygulamalı Termodinamik Derneği İktisadi İşletmesi}