The COVID-19 pandemic has significantly reduced life expectancy in the United States, especially among blacks and Hispanics, according to a new study in the prestigious Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
The doctors of the Therapeutic Clinic of the Medical School of the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Theodora Psaltopoulou, Ioannis Danasis, Maria Gavriatopoulou and Rector of EKPA Thanos Dimopoulos, summarizing the data, point out that the reason for this study was due to COVID-19 in the United States.
According to the researchers, the life expectancy at birth for Americans will be 77.48 years, which is reduced by 1.13 years compared to before the pandemic.
The biggest decrease in the last 40 years
It is the largest drop in life expectancy in at least 40 years, and is the lowest life expectancy since 2003.
Another important element highlighted by this study is the racial differences in the estimated life expectancy, which reflects the great impact of the pandemic on racial and ethnic minorities.
The study predicts a 0.68-year reduction in life expectancy for white Americans to 77.84 years.
What about the black and Spanish race
However, a decrease of 2.1 years is predicted for people belonging to the black race to 72.78 years, as well as a decrease of 3.05 years for people belonging to the Spanish race to 78.77 years.
It is also worth noting that there is a disproportionate number of deaths at a younger age in these population groups compared to whites.
The disproportionate effect of the COVID-19 pandemic on the life expectancy of black and Latino people is likely to have to do with greater exposure to their workplace or extended family contacts and degree of physical abstinence, in combined with the poorest healthcare.
More coronavirus infections
Overall, these lead to more COVID-19 infections with worse outcomes. According to the researchers, the life expectancy gap between white Americans and black Americans will widen from 3.6 years to more than 5 years.
In conclusion, the findings of the study note on the one hand the significant impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the life expectancy of Americans and on the other hand highlight the particular burden of specific racial groups, which notes the need for special programs by the State to reduce SAR exposure. -CoV-2.
