Life expectancy falls one year amid pandemic in biggest drop since WWII

Life expectancy fell by one year in the first six months of 2020, the biggest drop since World War II, as the U.S. dealt with the coronavirus pandemic, according to a report released Thursday.

Initial data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) determined that life expectancy fell from 78.8 years in 2019 to 77.8 years during the first half of 2020. Men saw a drop of 1.2 years to 75.1 years, while women saw a decrease of 0.9 years to 80.5 years amid the pandemic.

More bad news: Black Americans and Hispanic Americans experienced an even greater drop in life expectancy, as their communities have recorded a disproportionate number of COVID-19 cases and deaths.

The drop in life expectancy, which measures how long on average a baby born today can expect to live, shows the early impact of the coronavirus crisis in 2020. Last year was already confirmed to be the deadliest year in U.S. history, surpassing 3 million deaths in the country for the first time, according to The New York Times.