In a recent interview with Berkshire County District Attorney Andrea Harrington, many topics were covered including a new report released by the Department of Public Health which found a sharp uptick in fatal drug overdoses across the state. According to Harrington, there was a 5% increase in 2020 across the commonwealth but in Berkshire County there was a staggering increase of 44%. Harrington said that in 2019, Berkshire County had 39 fatal overdoses and 56 in 2020.
Does the pandemic play a role in that sharp increase?
Harrington said the following (paraphrased):
Consulting with the Brien Center the answer is yes. The uptick is due to the stress of the pandemic and an interruption in people's normal community and support of mental health. People are very isolated and more people are using alone which is very dangerous.