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There are a lot of people suffering from the direct and indirect effects of the pandemic.
One group not getting a lot of focus is people suffering from addiction.
The overdose epidemic has not abated in the past three months, and in fact it seems to have gotten worse.
Toronto had 25 fatal overdoses in April, the worst numbers since September 2017. Guelph has already seen more fatal overdoses since the pandemic began than in all of 2019.
Barrie and Orillia had also become a battleground for the opioid crisis before the pandemic, with 54 overdoses coming through Orillia’s emergency department in a five-week span in early 2020.
And this pandemic has undoubtedly made life worse for people suffering from mental illness and addiction.
They are more likely to rely on food banks and shelters, which are under increased strain, as well as libraries, parks and public washrooms, many of which have been shut down.
And perhaps most significant — the advice to “stay home” that has been prescribed to save lives from COVID-19 can be lethal for someone who uses drugs.
Overdose prevention sites have been necessarily made-over to protect against the spread of the virus. Longer lines outside, additional screening processes, and outreach workers in full PPE [personal protective equipment] create new barriers for what is intended as a low-barrier harm reduction service.
At some sites, wrap-around services like counselling and referrals have also been paused, driving a wedge through the one-on-one connections that social workers make with clients.
It’s why we might be seeing a decline in visits to overdose prevention sites and an increase in reported overdoses.
This doesn’t include the unreported overdoses, which according to one news story from early May, is a concern amongst the vulnerable population in Barrie.
This is why many nurses are going out in the community more to offer harm-reduction training.
They are heroes — working under challenging new conditions to save lives.
It’s time for a bigger conversation about how governments can adapt their harm-reduction efforts, too.
One common-sense change would be to follow British Columbia’s example and expand access to safer drug supply for eligible groups in Ontario.
A supply of safer, controlled and regulated drugs could save lives and save resources from our health, justice and municipal budgets.
It would also address the other problem of more people turning to toxic street drugs, including fentanyl, as their usual drug supply or prescription narcotics are less available due to the border closure.
There were good reasons to expand safer supplies before COVID-19, and now we have every reason to make this intervention available to everyone whose life it can save.
The conversation about building on existing pilot projects should start right now.
As we mobilize all the health-care resources we can to combat COVID-19, we cannot take our eyes off the overdose crisis, which is getting worse.
Adapting and stepping up harm reduction is needed to save lives.
Mike Schreiner, Leader, Green Party of Ontario
Doris Grinspun, CEO, Registered Nurses’ Association of Ontario
Adrianna Tetley, CEO, Alliance for Healthier Communities
Raechelle Devereaux, Executive Director, Guelph Community Health Centre
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