After declining the previous year, deaths from drug overdoses in the United States increased by 18 percent in the twelve-month period that began in June 2019 and ended in May 2020. According to the CDC, deaths due to drug overdoses they were already increasing in 2019, but accelerated during the first months of the Wuhan coronavirus pandemic.
A new CDC report reveals that approximately 81,230 people have had a fatal overdose in the United States over the twelve-month period. It is the largest number of drug overdoses over a one-year period ever recorded.
According to estimates, the report notes that the largest monthly increases occurred in March and April, coinciding with the onset of the coronavirus pandemic, the first blockages, and media hysteria fever about the virus. Estimates of overdose deaths in these two months are the highest recorded since the 12-month provisional estimates began to be calculated in January 2015.
The CDC says the deaths were caused primarily by overdoses of synthetic opioids such as illicitly manufactured fentanyl, but also noted a significant increase in the number of psychostimulant-related deaths with potential for abuse, such as methamphetamine.
Although the media presents constant updates on the number of deaths and the number of coronavirus cases, it is rarely the damage caused by blockages that can be seen in the public.
In May, after several weeks of painful closures, hundreds of doctors signed a letter to President Trump calling the closures a “mass casualty incident.”
“These include 150,000 Americans a month who would have detected new cancer through routine screening that has not occurred, millions who have lost routine dental care to solve problems strongly related to heart disease / death, and preventable cases of stroke, heart attack, and child abuse. Suicide phone calls have increased by 600%, “the doctors wrote.
The birth rate in the United States is also expected to drop substantially. The Brookings Institute estimates that between 300,000 and 500,000 fewer births will occur next year due to the pandemic. The figure is much higher than the drop of 44,172 births the previous year.
Early indicators also suggest that suicides are on the rise, although official data are not available. In Japan, for example, more people committed suicide during the month of October who did not die of COVID-19 during the pandemic.
And a new study analyzing income and poverty in the United States found that about 8 million Americans fell into poverty over the summer. According to one of the study’s authors, this is the largest poverty jump recorded in a single year since the government began monitoring poverty 60 years ago.
Even the World Health Organization (WHO) has recognized that blockages harm the poor and should be largely avoided.
“Blockages only have one consequence that you should never underestimate, and that makes poor people much poorer,” Dr. Nabarro, the WHO special shipment to COVID-19, in October.
There seems to be quite an evil to overcome anything that may come from the blockades. Local governors and leaders should be reminded of these negative consequences before they close again.