Evening Briefing: U.S. life expectancy plunges

July 21, 2021

By Remy Tumin and Lauren McCarthy

Good evening. Here's the latest at the end of Wednesday.

A patient with Covid-19 at Houston Methodist Hospital this month.Erin Schaff/The New York Times

1. New statistics laid bare how the pandemic disproportionately affected Hispanic and Black Americans.

Life expectancy in the U.S. fell by a year and a half in 2020, largely because of the pandemic that has so far killed more than 600,000 Americans. Hispanic people experienced the sharpest drop in life expectancy — losing three years — and Black Americans saw a decrease of 2.9 years. White Americans experienced the smallest decline, of 1.2 years.

In total, it was the steepest decline in life expectancy in the U.S. since World War II. The last time life expectancy was so low was in 2003, according to the federal report.

The precipitous drop in 2020, caused largely by Covid-19, is not likely to be permanent. But the researcher who produced the report said that life expectancy isn't likely to bounce back to prepandemic levels anytime soon, and that the effects for Black and Latino people could linger for years.

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House Speaker Nancy Pelosi at the U.S. Capitol building on Tuesday.Stefani Reynolds for The New York Times

2. Republicans blocked a bipartisan infrastructure bill in the Senate.

The failed vote left uncertain the fate of a nearly $600 billion package to fund roads, bridges, transit and other public works, which could be the first major infusion of federal works spending since the 2009 stimulus law. Negotiations will continue.

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In a test vote of 49-51, with all Republicans opposed, Democrats fell short of the 60 votes that would have been needed to move forward with an infrastructure debate as a group of Republicans said they needed more time to finish negotiating a deal with Democrats. Senator Chuck Schumer could move to force another vote, though it was unclear whether he would do so.

Also out of Washington, Speaker Nancy Pelosi said she would bar the two Republican lawmakers chosen by their party leader from sitting on a special committee investigating the Jan. 6 Capitol riot.

McKesson is one of three drug distributors involved in a large opioid settlement.Anastasiia Sapon for The New York Times

3. Johnson & Johnson and three drug distributors reached a $26 billion agreement with states that would release them from all legal liability in the opioid epidemic.

The offer will now go to every state and municipality for approval. If enough of them sign on to it, billions of dollars from the companies could begin to be released to help communities pay for addiction treatment and prevention services. In return, the states and cities would drop thousands of lawsuits against the companies and pledge not to bring any future action.

The distributors — Cardinal Health, AmerisourceBergen and McKesson — have been accused of turning a blind eye while pharmacies ordered millions of pills for their communities. From 1999 to 2019, 500,000 people died from overdoses of prescription and street opioids. Plaintiffs also say that Johnson & Johnson downplayed the addictive properties to doctors as well as patients.

A vaccination hub outside Sydney.Anna Maria Antoinette D'Addario for The New York Times

4. Many countries are learning to live with Covid.

Governments in Asia, Europe and the Americas are encouraging people to shift their pandemic perspectives and focus on avoiding severe illness and death over infections, which are unavoidable. But scientists warn that pandemic exit strategies may be premature.

More transmissible variants mean that even wealthy nations with abundant vaccines, including the U.S., remain vulnerable. Places like Australia, where half of the country is under lockdown, are learning that they cannot keep the virus out.

Smoke from wildfires in the Western U.S. moved eastward.Source: Earth System Research Laboratories, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

5. The impact of climate change is being felt around the world.

Smoke from wildfires in the Western U.S. and Canada covered skies in a thick haze and triggered air-quality alerts from Toronto to Philadelphia. British Columbia declared a state of emergency over blazes in the province. See how the smoke spread.

In China, at least 25 people died in and around Zhengzhou, the capital of Henan Province, after the heaviest rainfall on record there triggered severe flooding. Among the dead were 12 people who were trapped in flooded subway cars.

And Iran is dealing with protests over severe water shortages after a prolonged drought worsened by climate change and government mismanagement.

Used car prices may finally be stabilizing, but they're still very high.An Rong Xu for The New York Times

6. The U.S. economy is having a harder time rebooting itself than had seemed likely.

The labor market is the clearest example of a market that is simultaneously too hot and too cold. Businesses are seeing labor shortages and offering enticements to attract workers. Yet the unemployment rate is a recession-like 5.9 percent, and the share of adults in the labor force — either working or looking for work — has been essentially flat for months.

But even those who are employed have slowed their careers while tending to family responsibilities. Namely, mothers. The short-term effects on their professional contributions could have long-term effects on their careers.

In the darkest months of the pandemic, service workers helped keep New York City alive. We photographed more than 100 of them.

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Sasha Piton is calling for the Mormon church to update its temple garments.Kim Raff for The New York Times

7. Mormon women are asking for "buttery soft" underwear.

Church members have been encouraged to wear the white two-piece temple garments "night and day." But they are simply too uncomfortable. Frustrated by the itchy, constrictive church-designed garments, some followers want a better fit and more options.

Enter Sasha Piton, who has called on the church to manufacture more comfortable temple garments. "We really want buttery soft fabric," she said in an Instagram post that drew thousands of comments.

Sweden celebrated its second goal against the U.S.Doug Mills/The New York Times

8. The opening ceremony of the Tokyo Olympics is Friday, but the games are already underway.

In women's soccer, Sweden outplayed the U.S. 3-0, the first defeat for the gold medal favorite in 24 games. The loss will force the U.S. to scramble to recover in the Olympic tournament.

In other Olympic news:

Britain's women's soccer team became the first athletes to take a knee in a protest to promote racial justice.
The U.S. and Japanese softball teams opened with victories to start off the Games.

Back in the U.S., Giannis Antetokounmpo led the Milwaukee Bucks to their first N.B.A. championship in 50 years. "This should make every person, every kid, anybody around the world to believe in their dreams," said Antetokounmpo, who grew up in Greece as the son of African immigrants.

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9. During this summer of hellish weather, we have two books to meet the moment.

In "The Joy of Sweat," the science journalist Sarah Everts offers an "entertaining and illuminating guide" to the necessity and virtues of perspiration, our book critic writes. Part of Everts's research included getting her armpits sniffed by an analyst in New Jersey and participating in a "smell-dating" event in Moscow.

In "After Cooling," Eric Dean Wilson makes a persuasive argument that cutting back on air-conditioning is the most pressing environmental task of our generation, and touches on how our best efforts toward environmental regulation can bring out the worst in us.

For more options, check out our summer reading guide.

An Al Hirschfeld caricature of Carol Channing was auctioned off.Al Hirschfeld Foundation; Amy Lombard for The New York Times

10. And finally, one more Carol Channing curtain call.

To say that Carol Channing, the larger-than-life Broadway star who died in 2019, had a fan base is an understatement. The most passionate fans waited by stage doors from Broadway to Tampa for her to emerge; they devoured the "Hello, Dolly!" cast album as teenagers; they impersonated her. So her audience was ready and waiting when much of the Channing estate went to auction last month.

All 400 items sold out in eight hours and the auction raised more than $400,000 from 6,000 bidders, with some of the proceeds going to charity. Among the items sold off, a 1964 Tony Award went for $28,125 and a chic red costume she wore parading down a staircase in the title role of "Hello, Dolly!" fetched $23,750.

"She had a way of getting a room to zing," one fan said. "For me, being part of the auction was wanting to hang on to that feeling."

Have a glamorous night.

Lance Booth compiled photos for this briefing.

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