Here in the United States, life expectancy has dropped to its lowest level in a quarter-century, brought down by the coronavirus pandemic and a surge of drug overdoses. New data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention show a baby born in 2021 can, on average, expect to live 76.4 years. That’s nearly two-and-a-half years of lost life expectancy since the start of the pandemic. Last year, a record 106,000 U.S. residents died from a drug overdose, while COVID-19 remained the third leading cause of death behind heart disease and cancer.