COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) - Overdose deaths, suicides and homicides in one Ohio county have gone up by 40% or more during the first two months of the year.
Franklin County Coroner Dr. Anahi Ortiz held a news conference Wednesday to outline trends in deaths, The Columbus Dispatch reported.
Ortiz said that there has been a 49% increase in overdose deaths between Jan. 1 and Feb. 21 compared with the same time span last year. The number of fatal overdoses went from 73 at this time last year to 109 this year.
The coroner’s office attributes much of the increase in overdose deaths to the fact that more older people are overdosing.
Suicides and homicides were also up by 40% during that same period this year compared with 2019.
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