Aug. 23, 2022
Opioids killed more people in Ontario in the second year of the pandemic compared to the first, but the province saw a drop in those deaths this past March, newly released data shows.
About eight people per day died from opioids in the second year of the pandemic, preliminary data from Ontario’s Office of the Chief Coroner shows. From April 2021 to March 2022, 2,790 opioid-related deaths were recorded, up slightly from 2,727 in the first year of the pandemic.
Those were both large leaps from 2019, when opioids killed 1,559 Ontarians — about four people per day.
“It’s ongoing and it’s bad and it got heck of a lot worse during the pandemic,” said Dr. Dirk Huyer, Ontario’s chief coroner, in an interview.
But the data also shows the death rate dropped by 10 per cent in the first quarter of this year compared to the same time frame last year. The data is considered preliminary because it includes both confirmed and probable opioid-related deaths and is subject to change, Huyer said.