US life expectancy fell 1 year in 1st half of 2020 - CDC

As the COVID-19 pandemic has taken a massive toll on Americans, life expectancy in the US fell by a year during the first half of 2020, a new report revealed on Thursday.

The average number of years a person lives in the US fell to 77.8 years, declining from 78.8 in 2019, according to the study of Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

Meanwhile, life expectancy for non-Hispanic Black people dropped by 2.7 years from 74, for Hispanic individuals fell 1.9 years from 81.8 and for non-Hispanic white people declined by 0.8 years from 78.8., a noticeable disparity.

The new projection is the lowest one for life expectancy since 2006, the data showed.

Noting that the deaths that occurred during the first six months of 2020 do not reflect the "entirety" of the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, the CDC said the pandemic "differentially affected" certain geographic areas.

Since the first virus-related death was recorded on Feb. 6, 2020, fatality and case counts in the country rose sharply.

"Another consequence of the decreased life expectancy estimates observed during the first half of 2020 was a worsening of racial and ethnic mortality disparities," the report said, referring to the drop in life expectancy for Black and Hispanic Americans.

The COVID-19 has claimed more than 490,500 lives in the US, according to a running tally of the Johns Hopkins University. Nearly 28M Americans are infected with the novel coronavirus.