COLORADO, USA — Life expectancy in the United States fell to its lowest level in 2020 dating back nearly two decades, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's early data released on Wednesday.
U.S. life expectancy came in at 77.3 years for 2020, the lowest it's been since 2003. There was a drop of 1.5 years in life expectancy from 2019 to 2020, and the officials involved in the National Center for Health Statistics data said the drop was "primarily" due to COVID-19.
> Video above: Why has life expectancy dropped in the US
"Mortality due to COVID-19 had, by far, the single greatest effect on the decline in life expectancy at birth between 2019 and 2020, overall, among men and women, and for the three race and Hispanic-origin groups shown in this report," they wrote. "Among the other causes of death that negatively contributed to the change in life expectancy, unintentional injuries, homicide, and diabetes affected all three Hispanic origin and race groups."
COVID-19 was "by far" the "single greatest effect on the decline in life expectancy at birth between 2019 and 2020, overall, among men and women," officials explained, noting that coronavirus deaths contributed to 73.8% of that decline.
> Read the full story at Colorado Politics
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