FILE - A man crosses the street in a nearly empty Times Square, devoid of the usual weekday morning crowds, March 23, 2020, in New York. In May 2023, U.S. Surgeon General Vivek Murthy declared loneliness an American epidemic. While solitude and isolation do not automatically equal loneliness, Murthy’s report found, people tightened their groups of friends and cut time spent with them during the pandemic. According to the report, Americans spent 20 minutes a day with friends in 2020 — down from an hour daily two decades ago. (AP Photo/Mark Lennihan, File)