Current COVID related deaths: 626,179
COVID deaths as of yesterday: 625,852
Data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention show the biggest drop in life expectancy in the US since World War II (“Provisional Life Expectancy Estimates for 2020,” Vital Statistics Rapid Release, Report No. 015, July, 2021). Most of the decline was due to COVID deaths, although the opioid epidemic has also played a role.
Overall, life expectancy was 78.8 years in 2019, dropping to 77.3 years in 2020. That may not seem like much, but on a population level losing a year and a half so quickly is horrifying.
Why do so many people doubt the stats on COVID deaths? You would think that such information would be pretty straightforward. The CDC actually provides a very specific “Guidance for Certifying Deaths Due to Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19).”
The point is, deaths don’t change very much from year to year unless there is something really dramatic going on. You may wish to look at this revealing article on “Mortality in the United States: Past, Present, and Future” (PennWharton Budget Model, June 27, 2016). You will see that starting around 1900 there has been a steady trend: 1) death rate has decreased and 2) life expectancy has increased.
*******************************************
I headed out early on Thursday (7/22) for PT and after a stop at the cupcake store, I was home by 11:30. I managed to get my blog out before NOON, and headed back to continue to work on the new customer quilt. This is a HUGE quilt and I had a lot of struggles with getting the backing loaded, so I only got that completed, the batting added and the front laid on:
My honey had managed to score pierogis a couple of days ago….so that was dinner…YUM!
I SKYPE-ed with Mary Lee for over an hour in the evening before joining my honey for cupcakes:
and TV for about an hour before bed.
*** I just realized that ironing boards are actually surf boards that quit following their dreams and have an actual job. Don't be an ironing board! ***
*** My housekeeping style can best be described as: there appears to have been a
struggle. ***
Comments