A man walks through a COVID Memorial Project installation on the grounds of the Washington Monument in Washington, DC on September 22. Win McNamee/Getty ImagesLife expectancy in the United States was on the rise before the coronavirus pandemic struck, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s National Center for Health Statistics reported Tuesday. For the second consecutive year, Americans’ life expectancy rose in 2019, according to the report “Mortality in the United States: 2019.”That’s despite an increase in drug overdose deaths and a record high of 2.85 million deaths, 15,633 more than the total in 2018. Life expectancy increased for both men and women. Final life expectancy and death rate data for 2020 is not yet available, but will reflect the mortality toll from the pandemic, the CDC said.

Source: CNN December 22, 2020 07:07 UTC