Photo Courtesy of W.Va. Legislative Photography West Virginia COVID czar Dr. Clay Marsh, seen here in a July 2020 House of Delegates information session, said life expectancy for Americans has decreased over the past two years

Photo Courtesy of W.Va. Legislative Photography
West Virginia COVID czar Dr. Clay Marsh, seen here in a July 2020 House of Delegates information session, said life expectancy for Americans has decreased over the past two years

WHEELING — The life expectancy for Americans has decreased over the past two years, and it’s the first time since World War II, according to West Virginia COVID czar Dr. Clay Marsh.

Marsh addressed media from across the state during Gov. Jim Justice’s virtual COVID-19 briefing on Wednesday.

He referenced recent data from the Centers for Disease Control that reported a drop in life expectancy for Americans — which was attributed not just to COVID, but also to an increase in drug-related deaths.

“Data just came out recently that shows us the year 2021 was the highest mortality year in the history of the United States,” Marsh said. “We had about 3.5 million deaths from all causes throughout the United States, and about 500,000 excess deaths related to COVID..

“In the United States we’ve lost about 2.5 years of life expectancy in the last two years. That’s because of excess deaths not only from COVID, but we also know we hit 100,000 deaths from overdoses of drugs in 2021, as well.”

As a result, Marsh said, life-expectancy numbers are declining for the first time since World War II. It typically has risen each year as health knowledge has increased and medical technology progressed. The CDC’s most recent life expectancy estimate in 2019 was for 78.5 years. Researchers now are projecting it has decreased 2.5 years since then, setting it at 76.

CDC data specifically relating to West Virginia was not available.

Justice on Wednesday announced an additional 22 COVID-related deaths in the state, bringing the number lost to the virus in West Virginia to 6,777.

“Twenty-two additional deaths is a crying shame, but at the same time the numbers are absolutely getting better,” Justice said.

He reported there were just 326 active COVID cases in the state, with only 25 being reported in the past 24 hours. The number of COVID patients in West Virginia was reported at 110, with 30 in intensive care units and 12 on ventilators, according to Justice.

All but one of West Virginia’s 55 counties were listed as green Wednesday, the safest category on the State Department of Health and Human Resources map. Wirt County was the lone county in yellow, which is one rung below green in terms of COVID safety.

Dr. Ayne Amjad, state health officer and commissioner of the Department of Health and Human Resources (DHHR) Bureau for Public Health, reported a juvenile has died of flu in West Virginia. Pediatric deaths from influenza are not common, she added.

Amjad reminded the public that flu shots are readily available for anyone ages 6 and older.