CDC estimates U.S. broke overdose death record last year. Monroe County had 41 overdoses this April

ROCHESTER, N.Y. (WHEC) — National and local overdose numbers were released Wednesday that suggest the trend of an increase in overdoses, including deadly ones, is continuing.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates that more than 107,000 Americans died of drug overdoses in 2021. That unofficial total would come to roughly one U.S. overdose death every 5 minutes and breaks the previous record of 93,000, which was set in 2020.

Experts say COVID-19 lockdowns and other restrictions worsened the existing opioid epidemic by isolating those with drug addictions and making treatment harder to get.

The Monroe County Heroin Task Force told News10NBC that in April of 2022, there were seven deadly overdoses and 41 total, a slight decrease from the number there were in March. Historical data suggests it’s typical for overdose numbers to slightly drop or stay around the same from March to April in Monroe County.

Between January and April of 2022 in Monroe County, there were 207 overdoses, 50 of which were fatal.

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