Covid had a massive impact on life expectancy in the US - a drop of 2 years, setting the US back by decades. Countries that pursued a more aggressive strategy o

Covid had a massive impact on life expectancy in the US - a drop of 2 years, setting the US back by decades. Countries that pursued a more aggressive strategy of preventing spread saw much smaller drops in life expectancy.† The fixation on Covid during the pandemic was entirely justified. It was the elephant in the room. † Covid single-handedly led to China passing the US in life expectancy. A number of Asian/Pacific countries (e.g., Taiwan, Singapore, New Zealand, Vietnam) pursued similar strategies as China, and they uniformly did better than the US and Europe.