There has been a spike of overdose deaths in Vancouver amid the COVID-19 crisis, city officials say. Vancouver police attended eight overdose-suspected deaths last week, the most since August 2019.
The numbers defy a recent trend that shows a decline in overdose deaths. In February, the BC Coroners Service said there were 981 suspected illicit drug toxicity deaths last year, a 36 per cent decrease from 2018.
Last week’s fatal overdose statistics, according to the city of Vancouver, serve as a stark reminder that the province is in the midst of two health crises: the COVID-19 pandemic and the opioid overdose crisis, which was declared a public health emergency nearly four years ago.