The number of overdose deaths in Lebanon County surged in 2020 to 39, up from 28 in 2019 and 27 in both 2018 and 2017, in a change that the county coroner and other local individuals with experience in the drug and alcohol field link to the coronavirus pandemic.
James Donmoyer, executive director of Lebanon County s Commission On Drug And Alcohol Abuse, said there could be a lot of factors behind the increase last year and couldn t confirm what the pandemic had to do with it, but did link the deaths to a timeline of the pandemic.
“We didn’t have any in March. Then in April and May, when things loosened up as far as COVID restrictions, our biggest month was May, with eight deaths,” he said. “As we came out of lockdown, our numbers went up.