Throughout the pandemic, there has been much debate surrounding face masks, social distancing, vaccines, and the various measures used to combat the spread of the virus. So much so, that at times it feels the human cost of the pandemic is forgotten about. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) brought that cost into alarming perspective this week after announcing the average life expectancy in the U.S. dropped by a year and a half—the largest drop since World War II.
According to the Associated Press, the drop was even worse for Black and brown people, going down by three years. The average life expectancy for Black people is now 71 years and 10 months; the last time Black life expectancy fell so drastically was during the Great Depression. The CDC cited COVID-19 as the primary reason life expectancy has dropped. More than 3.3 million people died in 2020, the most of any year in U.S. history, with COVID-19 representing 11 percent of those deaths.
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The CDC’s report also cites drug overdoses as being a significant factor in declining mortality for whites, with rising homicide rates representing a small but notable factor in mortality rates for Black people.
From AP:
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