Monday, December 21, 2020

Report: Drug overdose deaths far exceed COVID-19 deaths in San Francisco

Not good

The number of San Francisco residents who have died from drug overdoses this year far exceeded the number of Bay Area residents who have died from the coronavirus.

The shocking number of overdose deaths come as the COVID-19 pandemic has understandably been the top public health story of 2020. That has unfortunately meant that the opioid crisis has taken a back seat in terms of public health awareness.

What are the details?

According to the Associated Press, 621 people have died in San Francisco of drug overdoses thus far this year, a staggering number that equates to nearly two deaths per day.

On the other hand, just 173 San Fransisco residents have died of COVID-19.

The eye-popping number is a significant increase over drug overdose casualties in San Francisco last year when 441 Bay Area residents, still an alarming number, died from drug overdoses.

According to the San Francisco Chronicle, the opioid crisis has been worsened by fentanyl, an extremely toxic drug that is lethal to humans in very small amounts, and the COVID-19 pandemic.

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