The BC Coroners Service noted more extreme fentanyl concentrations were found in May than in previous months. (Pikist)

By NanaimoNewsNOW Staff

tragedy

May deadliest month ever for fatal overdoses on Vancouver Island

Jun 11, 2020 | 11:33 AM

NANAIMO — The tainted drug supply on Vancouver Island claimed the most lives ever in May.

New data from the BC Coroners Service released on Thursday, June 11 showed fatal illicit drug overdoses on the Island surpassed the previously highest number by 36 per cent.

Thirty-eight people lost their lives in May across Vancouver Island. The previous high was 28 deaths in January and March of 2018 when the overdose crisis was at its peak.

In Nanaimo, four people passed away in May for a total of 13 so far in 2020.

The area is now roughly halfway to reaching the 2019 total for overdoses, upending the trend of decreasing fatal overdoses since the height of the crisis in 2017 and early 2018.

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An overdose advisory was extended four times across Vancouver Island, which health officials previously said was unprecedented. It’s now been in place for one month.

The BC Coroners Service said each health authority across the province faced similar challenges by reaching or exceeding the highest monthly totals ever recorded.

“We are not only seeing people die in the downtown Eastside,” provincial health officer Dr. Bonnie Henry said during her daily press briefing on B.C.’s other more recent health crisis.

“In southern Vancouver Island, in the Interior, some of the highest rates we’ve ever seen of people being affected by the toxic street drug supply.”

The number of deaths in May equals 5.5 people losing their life per day.

The report said toxicology results suggests there were more fatalities caused by extreme fentanyl concentrations in May compared to previous months.

A vast majority of deaths occurred when substance users were alone, as it has been throughout much of the overdose crisis.

Victoria was noted as one of three cities experiencing the toughest hardship.

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