Study shows coronavirus will reduce life expectancy in US by more than a year

The coronavirus pandemic has reduced the average life expectancy of the United States by more than a year in 2020, according to a new study published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

the study projects that life expectancy fell by 1.13 years in 2020 after the coronavirus claimed the lives of more than 300,000 Americans.

The life expectancy of black and Latin populations has decreased significantly compared to white populations, according to the study. The life expectancy of whites is expected to drop 0.68 years, while that of blacks is expected to drop by 2.10 years and that of Latinos by 3.05 years.

Since the start of the pandemic, black and Latin communities have been disproportionately affected by the coronavirus both financially and on their personal health. Black residents have a higher death rate and represent a higher share of coronavirus cases compared to the general population, according to the COVID Tracking Project.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported this year that black Americans are three times more likely to die from coronavirus than white Americans.

The study suggested that the reason for a disproportionate decrease in life expectancy could be due to economic factors.

“These groups are more likely than whites to be in low-paying jobs with little autonomy, often in industries that suffered the largest job losses during the pandemic, creating unusually high unemployment rates for both. groups and a likely loss of health insurance, ”the authors said. .

The pandemic has reversed much of the progress the United States has made in improving the life expectancy of the general population. Life expectancy has increased by about 10 years over the past 50 years, according to CNN. In 1959, life expectancy was 69.9 and in 2016, life expectancy was 78.9.

The coronavirus has also called off work to narrow the gap in life expectancy between black and white populations. The study said their projections indicated an increase of almost 40% in the expectation gap between blacks and whites.

News of the study comes as the United States continues to fight the coronavirus, even as two vaccine candidates have been made available to certain priority groups. The country recorded a record number of deaths in the past week, with the United States registering more than 3,900 deaths as of Thursday alone, according to the New York Times.