US Overdose Deaths Increase 29%, Hit Record High During Pandemic

PITTSBURGH (AP/KDKA) — Overdose deaths soared to a record 93,000 last year in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, the U.S. government reported Wednesday.
That estimate far eclipses the high of about 72,000 drug overdose deaths reached the previous year and amounts to a 29% increase.
It’s a harrowing pattern mirrored in Allegheny County, which released its 2020 overdose deaths last month. The county reported 689 overdose deaths in 2020, a 22% increase.
“This is a staggering loss