The coronavirus pandemic has cut average life expectancy in the US by more than a year by 2020, according to a new study published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
The study projects whose life expectancy fell by 1.13 years in 2020 after the coronavirus killed more than 300,000 Americans.
According to the research, the life expectancy of black and Latino populations dropped significantly compared to white populations. White women’s life expectancy would drop by 0.68 years, while life expectancy for blacks would drop by 2.10 years and life expectancy for Latinos by 3.05 years.
Since the outbreak of the pandemic, black and Latino communities have been disproportionately affected by the coronavirus, both financially and in their personal health. According to the COVID Tracking Project, black residents have a higher death rate and make up a higher proportion of coronavirus cases compared to the general population.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported this year that black Americans are three times as likely to die from the coronavirus as white Americans.
The study suggested that the reason for a disproportionate decline in life expectancy could be due to economic factors.
“These groups are more likely than whites to have low-wage jobs with little autonomy, often in industries that suffered the greatest job losses during the pandemic, causing exceptionally high unemployment rates for both groups and likely loss of health insurance, “the authors said.
The pandemic reversed much of the progress that the US made to improve the life expectancy of the general population. Life expectancy has increased by about 10 years in 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 done away with work to close life expectancy between black and white populations. The study said their projections indicated a nearly 40 percent increase in the black and white expectation gap.
News of the study comes as the United States continues to grapple with the coronavirus, even as two vaccine candidates have been made available to some priority groups. According to The New York Times, the country recorded a record number of deaths in the past week, with the US recording more than 3,900 deaths on Thursday alone.