TFG'S legacy: Driven by covid deaths, U.S. life expectancy dropped by 1.5 years in 2020
A family carries the casket of a covid victim, who died in his 50s, at a Hagerstown, Md., cemetery in January. Almost three-fourths of the decline in U.S. life expectancy last year is attributed to deaths from covid-19, according to the National Center for Health Statistics. (Salwan Georges/The Washington Post)
Life expectancy in the United States dropped by a year and a half in 2020 a continuation of a worrisome decline that was observed in the first half of last year as the coronavirus pandemic ravaged the country, according to federal data released Wednesday.
The decline, which is the largest seen in a single year since World War II, reflects the pandemics sustained toll on Americans, particularly the disproportionate impact of covid-19 on communities of color. Black Americans lost 2.9 years of life expectancy while Latinos, who have longer life expectancy than non-Hispanic Blacks or Whites, saw a drop of three years. There was a decrease of 1.2 years among White people.
Its horrific, said Anne Case, a professor emeritus of economics and public affairs at Princeton University. Its not entirely unexpected given what we have already seen about mortality rates as the year went on, but that still doesnt stop it from being just horrific, especially for non-Hispanic Blacks and for Hispanics.
The provisional data from the National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS), a part of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, shows that life expectancy at birth a generally reliable measure of the nations health for the total population declined from 78.8 years in 2019 to 77.3 years in 2020. Almost three-fourths of that decline is attributed to deaths from covid-19, according to the report. The report did not include data for Asian Americans or other racial groups.
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https://www.washingtonpost.com/health/2021/07/21/life-expectancy-covid/