699 people died of drug overdoses in San Francisco last year compared to 235 from COVID-19
Jan. 15, 2021
Updated: Jan. 15, 2021 10:54 a.m.
San Francisco saw nearly three times as many people die from drug overdoses than from the coronavirus last year, a staggering data point that highlights the city's dire drug epidemic fueled by the powerful painkiller fentanyl.
A record 699 people died of overdoses from January through December in 2020, according to a new report from the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner. This number may seem surprising amid the global COVID-19 pandemic when San Francisco has shuttered schools and businesses to prevent deaths. In S.F., 235 people passed away from complications of the coronavirus in 2020.
The city's drug crisis is deepening because fentanyl, which can be 50 to 100 times more potent than morphine, flooded the city's drug supply, the newspaper said. Moreover, the coronavirus pandemic has disrupted city services like housing and treatment, and left many people who rely on others to help save them if they overdose to use alone.
https://www.sfgate.com/bayarea/article/drug-overdose-data-report-San-Francisco-fentanyl-15873680.php
