In San Francisco this year the fatal outcome of drug overdose outpaced COVID-19 deaths by a three to one margin, as did the deaths related to the potent painkiller Fanteniel.
The Associated Press reported that 621 people died of drug overdoses in San Francisco alone in 2020, compared to 173 of coronoviruses.
According to local reports from the San Francisco Chronicle, the city’s Drug Overdose Prevention and Education (DOPE) project used 3,000 people from January to November of this year due to over-consumption of fenantyls or related substances. Almost died.
DOPE added the possibility to include more accounts of Narcan’s use because their records only count self-reports.
Narcan is a drug used nasal spray that reverses the effects of opioid overdose in severe conditions, where the user may die if absent.
Drug overdoses killed about 441 people in San Francisco last year, a 70 percent increase from 2018. Also, 2,610 people were sent to Narcan in the city in 2019.
Experts have said that the crisis arises from the crisis of putting fentanyl in big cities.
Nationally, the United States is approaching 320,000 COVID-19 deaths.
At the same time, the opioid epidemic has worsened, although reported deaths are lower than COVID-19.
While not all figures are publicly available for 2020, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, published last week of deaths from more than 81,000 drug overdoses in the 12 months ending in May, indicate the highest level recorded in a year, AP reported.