Economics
U.S. Risks Years of Higher Mortality on Covid’s Economic Fallout
- Researchers say disease to have long-term health impacts
- Paper: 1.4 million more Americans may die in next 20 years
People wait in their vehicles to receive food at a drive-thru food distribution event in Chula Vista, Calif., on May 1, 2020.
Photographer: Bing Guan/Bloomberg
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The U.S. could see an elevated death rate for more than a decade as the economic fallout from the coronavirus persists, underscoring the long-term health impact of the deep recession.
The nation’s mortality rate is forecast to increase 3% while life expectancy will drop 0.5% over the next 15 years, representing 890,000 more American deaths, according to a working paper from researchers at Duke, Harvard and Johns Hopkins universities. Over a 20-year period, that amounts to 1.37 million additional deaths.