After more than a decade of increases, overdose deaths finally saw a decline in 2018 (the most recent year for which there is official data). Yet, this positive trend may have come to an abrupt end in early 2020 as the United States faced COVID-19. Anecdotal evidence from the frontlines of the pandemic suggest communities across the US may be experiencing a spike in overdose deaths as economic uncertainty continues and social distancing affects patients’ access to treatment and support services.
