A record 621 people have died of overdoses in San Francisco so far this year, a shocking number that far exceeds the 173 deaths from COVID-19 that the city has recorded so far.
The crisis unleashed by the powerful painkiller fentanyl could be much worse had it not been for the nearly 3,000 times that naloxone was used from January to early November to save the life of someone on the brink of death, the San Francisco newspaper published Chronicle on Saturday.
The data reflects the reported number of times people use the drug Narcan for the Project for Overdose Prevention and Education (DOPE), a city-funded program that coordinates the response of San Francisco authorities in case of overdoses, or restock your supply. Officials of the DOPE Project point out that since the figures are reported by those involved themselves, the cases are very likely to be more in reality.
Last year, 441 people died of overdoses – a 70% increase compared to 2018 – and 2,610 potential overdoses were avoided by the use of Narcan, a drug commonly sprayed through the nasal passages to reverse an opioid overdose, according to data. the city forensic office and the DOPE Project.
The crisis worsens because fentanyl, which can be 50 to 100 times more potent than morphine, flooded the city’s supply, the newspaper said. Furthermore, the coronavirus pandemic has affected the services of local authorities such as housing and treatment, leaving many people depending on others for assistance in the event they overdose to use it on their own.
While about 40% of the deaths occurred in the Tenderloin and South of Market neighborhoods near the city center, data from authorities showed that the epidemic has reached all areas of the city. Many of the people overdosed in apartment buildings in underprivileged areas and in city-funded hotel rooms for the homeless. Others died on the sidewalks, in alleys and parks in different parts of the city.
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