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Fifty-eight other people died of drug overdoses in San Francisco last month, bringing the annual total to at least 621. This compares to 441 deaths in 2019.
The latest figures put San Francisco on track to lose nearly two people a day by the end of the year and eclipse the 172 COVID-19 deaths the city has experienced so far this year.
The drug crisis was exacerbated by fentanyl, a strong opioid that can be 50 to 100 times more potent than morphine.
The figures come a day after the Centers for Disease Control reported that 81,230 drug overdose deaths occurred in the United States in the 12 months ending May 2020 – the highest number of drug overdoses for this duration never recorded and a sign that the epidemic is getting worse across the country.
The pandemic has also escalated the outbreak by disrupting city services and forcing many people, who often rely on others to help save them in the event of an overdose, to use on their own.
More than 39% of the deaths have occurred in Tenderloin and south of Market, the same neighborhoods where most drug-related arrests also occur. About 82% of those who died were men.
Many people have overdosed in low-income apartment buildings and city-funded hotel rooms for the homeless, according to city data obtained by The Chronicle. Many more died in plain sight in the city, on sidewalks, in alleys and in parks.
But with record numbers dying from overdoses, a staggering number of people have also been saved by the anti-opioid drug Narcan.
Between January and early November, Narcan was used 2,975 times to save someone from the brink of death, according to Project DOPE, a city-funded program that manages the San Francisco overdose response.
Since these numbers are self-reported, the Drug Overdose Prevention and Education Project indicates that they are likely undercounted.
Trisha Thadani is a writer for the San Francisco Chronicle. Email: [email protected] Twitter: @TrishaThadani
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