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Jan 22, 2021
Amid the COVID-19 pandemic over the past year, it seems news coverage and the general focus on accidental drug overdoses and the opioid epidemic have taken a back seat.
Sadly, though, the drug abuse problem has not gone away. In fact, increased isolation caused by the COVID-19 pandemic has impacted even more severely people with substance-use disorders, local mental health officials said recently. In Trumbull County, accidental drug overdose deaths increased in 2020 over data from 2019 and 2018. Thankfully, the number has not risen to the highs of 2017, according to data provided by local health officials.
Trumbull County had 90 confirmed fatal overdose deaths and 17 unofficial drug overdose deaths in 2020. If the unofficial tallies are confirmed, there will have been 107 overdose deaths in the county last year. In 2019, 92 accidental drug overdose deaths occurred, 76 in 2018 and 135 in 2017.
rfox@tribtoday.com
Increased isolation caused by the COVID-19 pandemic has impacted people with substance use disorders, local mental health officials said.
In Trumbull County, accidental drug overdose deaths increased in 2020, over data from 2019 and 2018, but the number has not risen to the highs of 2017, according to data provided by local health officials.
There were 90 confirmed fatal overdose deaths in Trumbull County in 2020, and 17 unofficial drug overdose deaths. If the unofficial tallies are confirmed, there will have been 107 overdose deaths in the county in 2020.
In 2019, there were 92 accidental drug overdose deaths, and there were 76 in 2018, and 135 in 2017. There were 879 overdose encounters in hospitals in the county in 2020, according to health data. The majority of the fatal and non-fatal overdoses were in the 44446 zip code in Niles and Weathersfield, and in the Warren / Howland / Champion ZIP codes of 44483, 44484 and 44485. The majority of the overdose dea
erunyan@tribtoday.com
Staff illustration / R. Michael Semple
This is a sampling of obituaries from the Dec. 13 newspaper. Not all of the deaths were caused by COVID-19, but some medical experts say people are dying of other health issues because they are delaying treatment over virus concerns. Local mental health professionals say the pandemic has led to an increase in overdoses because people are more isolated and no one is around to administer Narcan.
To put COVID-19 into perspective, the number of Mahoning Valley residents who have died so far this year from the virus is about the same as the number dying each year here from stroke and diabetes combined.
Staff illustration / R. Mike Semple
This is a sampling of obituaries from the Dec. 13 newspaper. Not all of the deaths were caused by COVID-19, but some medical experts say people are dying of other health issues because they are delaying treatment over virus concerns. Local mental health professionals say the pandemic has led to an increase in overdoses because people are more isolated and no one is around to administer Narcan.
To put COVID-19 into perspective, the number of Mahoning Valley residents who have died so far this year from the virus is about the same as the number dying each year here from stroke and diabetes combined.