It came from nowhere. Well, actually, from Pittsburgh's sister-city of Wuhan, China. What I mean is that we did not see it coming. Now, Covid-19 is the third-leading cause of death in the United States.
SARS CoV-2 accounted for 11% of the deaths in the United States in its debut year. This was enough for the pandemic to be widely credited with dropping the 'life expectancy at birth' in the United States by 1.5 years! However, the recognition is a bit misplaced.
This is the largest drop since World War 2 stole 291,557 of our most able-bodied warriors from the battlefield and another 113,842 younger adults from other causes.
Please do not mistake the following information and insight as insensitive. I pray for all 3,358,814 of our friends, neighbors, and family members who passed in 2020 - regardless of the cause. My aim is not to be callous. It is strictly information due to curiosity.
Most of those killed by the virus were aged 75-plus. In Pennsylvania, roughly half of the Covid fatalities occurred in nursing homes and long-term care facilities. It was/is devastating. However, not that it matters to the grieving, this fact is not going to 'move the needle' much in terms of American longevity when our average is 77.3. Thankfully, the 'upper demos' are now society's most vaxxed.
Roughly 3% of the American Covid deaths last year were sadly young, under age 44 and in the prime of their lives. Losing this group is what helped set off the grim statistical slide and a serious drop in life expectancy in America. However, blaming the virus is only part of the story.
Several other circumstances were less widely reported but quietly contributed as well. Death by unintentional injuries (4th leading cause) rose 20% last year. Heart disease deaths crept up 9.5%. Murders rose roughly 25% - cutting short nearly 21,000 lives. In the last 20 years, suicide rates have risen over 30% in all demos except for those over 75.
Also, many of those who died of various diseases last year may have delayed doctor's visits or refused to enter emergency rooms over fears spurred by pandemic-related media coverage and government mandated lockdowns. Mitigation efforts also forced many into depressing, lonely, or isolating tipping points.
In just one year, drug overdose deaths in the US increased by a sickening 29.4%. A total of 93,331 Americans died as a result of OD's last year. That is equivilant to wiping Erie, PA off the map. This is mostly fueled by cheap synthetic opioids like fentanyl which can be 100-times more potent than morphine. Pennsylvania lost 5,172 residents to overdose to begin the roaring '20's. Imagine everyone in Crafton disappearing.
A staggering number of those who died of drug overdose were under age 44. This is what affects the average life expectancy in the US.
We are losing huge swaths of our younger generations to drugs…and to a lesser extent: murder. Homicide victims tend to be under-40 with most victims falling in the 20-30 age range.
Yes, Covid is absolutely awful. I know or have interviewed several people who fought for their lives against the virus. However, most of the covid deaths have come at the expense of our 'most experienced' Americans. In fact, someone 85+ is 600 times more likely to die of covid than someone between the ages of 18-29, according to the Centers for Disease Control. Plus, many of the fatalities that list 'covid' on the death certificate share serious comorbidity. The CDC notes that those officially succumbing to Covid also overwhelmingly suffered from 1. respiratory issues (by far!) 2. influenza/Pneumonia 3. hypertension 4. diabetes.
We'll talk about the life-shortening effects obesity is having on us some other time.
The quick, sound-bite reason reported by the media for life expectancy's drop to 77.3 years in the US in 2020 is 'Covid.' The more likely reason 'life expectancy at birth' in the US dropped by an astounding 1.5 years in 2020 is because of the scourge of drugs impacting our younger demographics.
I fear that the results of 2021 will lower expectations even more.
Kevin Battle is Co-Host of the KDKA Radio Morning Show with Larry Richert. It airs M-F 5a-9a on Pittsburgh's 100.1FM & AM1020 KDKA or on the free Audacy app. Ask your smartspeaker to: 'Play KDKA.' Thank you. Have a great day.
