This is the first time the CDC has reported on life expectancy from early, partial records; more death certificates from that period may yet come in. It’s already known that 2020 was the deadliest year in US history, with deaths topping 3 million for the first time.
Life expectancy is how long a baby born today can expect to live, on average. In the first half of last year, that was 77.8 years for Americans overall, down one year from 78.8 in 2019. For males it was 75.1 years and for females, 80.5 years.
Dr Otis Brawley, a cancer specialist and public health professor at Johns Hopkins University, said the focus really needed to be on getting every American adequate care.
“And health care needs to be defined as prevention as well as treatment,” he said.
Overall, the drop in life expectancy is more evidence of “our mishandling of the pandemic,” Dr Brawley said.
“We have been devastated by the coronavirus more so than any other country. We are 4 per cent of the world’s population, more than 20 per cent of the world’s coronavirus deaths,” he said.
Not enough use of masks, early reliance on drugs such as hydroxychloroquine, “which turned out to be worthless,” and other missteps meant many Americans died needlessly, Dr Brawley said.
“Going forward, we need to practice the very basics” such as hand-washing, physical distancing and vaccinating as soon as possible to get prevention back on track, he said.
AP