The COVID-19 pandemic emerged in the midst of the ongoing epidemic of opioid-related deaths in Canada. Public health restrictions introduced in Ontario to reduce the spread of COVID-19 resulted in reduced service levels for health and social services that provide care to people who use drugs. Despite the intention to reduce the impact of COVID-19, there was also concern that these measures would lead to unintended harms.
The ODPRN, the Office of the Chief Coroner for Ontario/Ontario Forensic Pathology Service (OCC/OFPS) and Public Health Ontario (PHO) have developed a new report describing patterns surrounding opioid-related deaths that occurred in Ontario during the COVID-19 pandemic up to the end of December 2020. This report updates the data provided in a preliminary report released in November 2020 describing patterns that occurred during the first three months of the pandemic.
Citation
Gomes T, Murray R, Kolla G, Leece P, Bansal S, Besharah J, Cahill T, Campbell T, Fritz A, Munro C, Toner L, Watford J on behalf of the Ontario Drug Policy Research Network, Office of the Chief Coroner for Ontario and Ontario Agency for Health Protection and Promotion (Public Health Ontario). Changing circumstances surrounding opioid-related deaths in Ontario during the COVID-19 pandemic. Toronto, ON: Ontario Drug Policy Research Network; 2021. DOI: 10.31027/ODPRN.2021.02.
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