Drug Overdose Deaths Surged as COVID Upended Lives
Deadly opioid overdoses — from prescription painkillers, heroin, fentanyl and other similar substances — increased by nearly 40%, according to the data, more than triple the rate of any other increase in the past decade.
May 10, 2021 •
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May 10—More Washington residents died of drug overdoses in 2020 than any other year in at least the last decade, as people, struggling with the social isolation and loss of routine stemming from the COVID pandemic turned to substances more often, according to preliminary data from the state Department of Health.