Communities Hope to Combat Record Drug Overdose Deaths Reported Amid Coronavirus Pandemic

In Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, home to Pittsburgh, the rate of overdose deaths noticeably surpassed that of the entire Keystone State, which saw a 16% increase to 5,172 overdose deaths

The county’s chief medical examiner reported drug overdoses increased 22% from 2019 to 689 fatalities. Opioids were involved in 92% of the county’s accidental overdose deaths in the first and second quarter of 2020, on average, according to the Allegheny County Department of Health and Human Services.

At their home near Pittsburgh, Sherry Jo Matt and Tom Bott also felt the impact of the scourge. Their daughter, Siena, died from a fentanyl overdose in September.

“She lit up a room, her heart was pure, she would do anything for anybody and the only person at the end of the day Siena ever hurt was herself,” Matt said. “The demons of mental illness and the shackles of addiction took over who she really was at her core.”