# U.S. life expectancy fell by a whole year in early 2020

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/u-s-life-expectancy-fell-by-a-whole-year-in-early-2020/933225>\
**Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\
**Created:** [February 18, 2021, 1:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/u-s-life-expectancy-fell-by-a-whole-year-in-early-2020/933225 "2021-02-18T13:14:03Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 2\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\
**Post date:** [February 18, 2021, 1:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/u-s-life-expectancy-fell-by-a-whole-year-in-early-2020/933225/1 "2021-02-18T13:14:03Z")

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It dropped from 78.8 to 77.8. Story [here](https://www.nytimes.com/2021/02/18/us/covid-life-expectancy.html?campaign_id=9&emc=edit_nn_20210217&instance_id=27236&nl=the-morning&regi_id=119968082&segment_id=51871&te=1&user_id=daeffd3dd102c14d378e3849f08c7822). It’s even worse for minorities. Thanks, Covid.

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**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\
**Post date:** [February 18, 2021, 6:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/u-s-life-expectancy-fell-by-a-whole-year-in-early-2020/933225/2 "2021-02-18T18:44:40Z")

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That article is also being discussed here:

> [@Coronavirus COVID-19 (2019-nCoV) Thread - 2021 Breaking News](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coronavirus-covid-19-2019-ncov-thread-2021-breaking-news/929428/598):
>
> Covid-19 has had an effect on US life expectancy: The news is unlikely to get better in the near future: