The Medical Officer of Health for Windsor-Essex says individuals affected by substance abuse are feeling the effects of the pandemic more severely than others.
According to data collected by the Windsor Essex Community Opioid and Substance Strategy, there were 348 opioid overdoses in the region last year, a significant increase from previous years when there were 249. Similar increases were recorded throughout the province.
“A lot has happened in the last year and there is definitely a connection. Everybody is impacted by the pandemic, this particular group is getting most of the impact and it is a troubling trend and I wanted to make sure that the community is aware,” said Medical Officer of Health Dr. Wajid Ahmed.
In 2020, there were 64 opioid-related deaths in Windsor-Essex while in the previous year there were 48 only.
So far this year, there have already been seven opioid-related alerts issued by the WECOSS. These alerts are issued when there are a high number of drug-related overdoses flagged by emergency personnel in the community.
In 2020, there were only three of these alerts issued, but in 2019 there were nine issued for the entire year. Dr. Ahmed said even though there were an increase of opioid occurrences in 2020, if they were spread out over time, they would not trigger an alert through the system.
Ahmed said it is concerning that there have already been so many overdose occurrences in 2021. Over the week of April 26 to May 1, there were 16 opioid overdoses recorded in the Windsor-Essex region.