A new study suggests that 1.9 million life years have been lost from the coronavirus pandemic.
The Health Care Cost Institute estimated the excess years of lost life, a measure of premature mortality, from April to August 2020 in the United States. The study accounts for excess years of life lost from all causes and not just COVID-19. However, years of lost life are 13% above the historical average during that period, suggesting that COVID-19 played an outsized role.
The bulk of years of lost life came from people age 65 and older, who accounted for about 52%. Those ages 45-64 accounted for 17%, and those 20-44 accounted for 29%.
The age range has shifted as the pandemic lengthened. In April, those age 65 and up accounted for 8 in 10 excess years of lost life. That fell to 36% in June as more young people contracted the virus.
To date, there have been over 8 million confirmed coronavirus infections in the U.S. and over 218,000 confirmed deaths.
