Life Expectancy in the US Fell , by Nearly 2 Years in 2020.
The findings were
released by the
Centers for Disease
Control and Prevention
(CDC) on Dec. 22.
The COVID-19 pandemic is
largely to blame for the drop.
which is the most significant fall of life expectancy in the U.S. for nearly three quarters of a century.
COVID-19 was the third leading cause of death in 2020, responsible for more than 350,000 fatalities.
Heart disease and cancer both led with 600,000 U.S. deaths each.
Life expectancy for men fell to 74.2 years.
For women, life expectancy fell to 79.9 years.
The overall death rate for people living in the U.S. increased by almost 17 percent.
The percentage equates to 835.4 deaths per 100,000 people.
While the death rate of every demographic was found to have increased.
Latinx men and women experienced
the greatest rise.
Black men and women experienced the second-most significant increase.
According to Johns Hopkins University, more than
55 million Americans have been
infected by the coronavirus.
Nearly 810,000 people in the U.S. have died as a result of the pandemic.
While the most recent
Omicron and Delta variants
continue to overwhelm
health systems in the U.S..
data related to the Omicron variant from South Africa indicates it may have
passed its peak in the country