During the COVID-19 pandemic, China, the United Kingdom, the Group of 77, and experts urged the United States to ease sanctions on Iran to assist it in combating the increasing coronavirus outbreak.[12] "There is no doubt that Iran’s capacity to respond to the novel coronavirus has been hampered by the Trump administration's economic sanctions, and the death toll is likely much higher than it would have been as a result," Center for Economic and Policy Research (CEPR) Co-director Mark Weisbrot said. He added that there was no doubt that the sanctions had hindered Iran's ability to contain the outbreak, resulting in more illnesses and potentially the virus' spreading outside the country's boundaries.[13]