Virginians aren’t living as long

COVID-19 lowered Virginians' life expectancy by 1.5 years from 2019 to 2020, according to newly released CDC data.

Why it matters: The pandemic is taking a toll on our health.

• Increases in unintentional injuries, specifically drug overdose deaths, also contributed.

By the numbers: Our life expectancy was 79.1 years in 2019, but dropped to 77.6 in 2020.

• Virginia still did better than the rest of the country, which declined 1.8 years to 77.3 years old.
• The greatest declines were in New York, with a three-year drop, and D.C. (2.7 years). The lowest decline was in Hawaii (0.2 years).

The big picture: According to preliminary 2020-21 data from the CDC, U.S. life expectancy dropped a historic 2.7 years between 2019-21.

• It's the largest two-year drop since the 1920s.