A new Center for Disease Control study shows an increase in drug overdose deaths during the first months of the pandemic.

According to the study, drug-related deaths increased about 10 percent at the onset of the pandemic in February and March. The biggest increase in fatal overdoses happened in rural South Dakota, where drug-related fatalities increased by nearly 50 percent.

There were more than 19,000 fatal overdoses in the United States from January through March of this year, according to CDC data, which is close to 3,000 more deaths than the same time frame last year.

To read the article on the Duluth News Tribune, click here: https://www.duluthnewstribune.com/business/agriculture/6737819-Drug-overdose-deaths-increase-during-pandemic-hit-rural-areas

To read the full CDC study, click here: https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/nvss/vsrr/drug-overdose-data.htm