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The number of deaths in Ottawa due to opioid overdoses nearly doubled in 2020, as the COVID-19 pandemic exacerbated an already worsening drug supply while further compromising the city’s at-risk population through reduced services and greater isolation.
The city’s confirmed and probable death toll from opioid overdoses rose to 127 in 2020, from 65 a year earlier, an increase of 95 per cent. The province, meanwhile, experienced a 60 per cent increase, from 1,516 in 2019 to 2,426 last year.
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The new figures are part of a preliminary report from the Office of the Chief Coroner that has yet to be released or published on the province’s public health website.