Health departments say COVID-19 pandemic has impacted the opioid epidemic - WREX-TV
WINNEBAGO COUNTY (WREX)—Health departments say the COVID-19 pandemic has impacted the opioid epidemic in the Stateline.
"We knew we had a crisis before the pandemic and then an emergency such as covid is going to nothing but drive up the rates of alcohol abuse, substance, domestic violence," said Boone County Public Health Administrator Amanda Mehl.
Mehl says this past year, the combination of state-wide shutdowns and quarantines separated people from the resources they needed to beat addiction.
And her county wasn't the only one impacted.
"If you look at 2019, there were 130 deaths due to overdose in 2019. There are 157 in 2020. so definitely 2020 was not a good year," said Winnebago County Public Health Administrator Dr. Sandra Martell.
Dr. Martell says the pandemic put a strain on those struggling with addiction in her county.
Health departments in the Stateline began working to stop the epidemic a couple of years before the pandemic, by applying to grants and creating programs to address it.
"Because we had one of our grants before covid became a crisis situation in the united states, we were able to use that funding to pay staff and continue programs to run during COVID," said Mehl.
They say they have to continue that work, by applying what they learned during the pandemic to the opioid epidemic.
"Actually the covid vaccination strategy in which we are going into those vulnerable populations has also allowed us to start planning the next implementation phase," said Dr. Martell
Health departments say if you are struggling with addiction, please reach out to them.
2021-05-11 05:18:35Z
https://wrex.com/2021/05/11/health-departments-say-covid-19-pandemic-has-impacted-the-opioid-epidemic/
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