Americans’ lifespans are increasing, but it’s still nowhere near to the highs of before the pandemic, a new CDC report said this month.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said U.S. life expectancy rose by more than a year to 77 years, 6 months, indicating the reduced coronavirus deaths more than three years after the virus first hit America.

The last time life expectancy was at 77 was around two decades ago. Since then, lifespan was gradually increasing until the pandemic brought the national average to a staggering low.

“As we move farther away from peak-COVID’s effects on life expectancy, we should start to better approximate those pre-COVID levels,” Eric Goedereis, a professor at Webster University and a lifespan developmental psychologist, told Newsweek.