The number of fatalities from drug overdose in San Francisco this year exceeded COVID-19 deaths by a margin of three to one as deaths from the potent pain reliever fentanyl increased.
In 2020 alone, 621 people died of drug overdoses in San Francisco, while the coronavirus fatalities were 173, the Associated Press reported.
According to local reports from the San Francisco Chronicle, the city’s Drug Overdose Prevention and Education (DOPE) project used Narcan 3,000 times this year from January to November to save people who nearly died from an overdose of fentanyl or related drugs for misuse of opioids.
DOPE added that the numbers are likely to exclude more accounts from Narcan usage, as their records only count self-reports.
Narcan is a drug nasal spray used to reverse the effects of an opioid overdose in critical situations where the user could otherwise die if not treated.
Last year, about 441 people in San Francisco died from drug overdoses, a 70 percent increase from 2018. In addition, Narcan was provided to 2,610 people in the city in 2019.
Experts have said the crisis is the result of an abundance of fentanyl entering major 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 less than COVID-19.
While all data for 2020 is not yet publicly available, last week the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention published more than 81,000 drug overdose deaths in the 12 months ending in May, indicating the highest level recorded in one year, reported the AP.