Mid-Hudson News reports that New York State Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli on Nov. 1, issued a report on overdose rates and the results show that drug overdose fatalities surged statewide during the pandemic. Opioid-related overdose deaths increased by 68 percent between 2019 and 2021, taking the lives of nearly 5,000 New Yorkers. With limited statistical data available from the CDC, 15 counties in the state were analyzed. The highest overdose rate among the 15 counties was in Dutchess County, where more than 43 people per 100,000 died of drug overdoses in 2020. There are approximately 297,000 residents in Dutchess County. Key takeaways from the report: the share of drug overdose deaths in the state involving opioids increased to 85 percent in both 2020 and 2021 from 69 percent in 2010; in 2021, 30 New Yorkers per 100,000 died from drug overdoses and 25 per 100,000 New Yorkers died from opioid overdoses, compared to five in 2010. New York’s opioid overdose death rates exceeded national rates in both 2020 and 2021. Fatalities grew across all racial and ethnic groups. Death rates increased five-fold for black New Yorkers, quadrupled for Hispanic or Latino New Yorkers, and nearly tripled for white New Yorkers. “The shocking news in State Comptroller DiNapoli’s report on overdose deaths between 2019 and 2021 simply reconfirms the need for an all-out effort to mitigate this crisis,” said state Senator Pete Harckham, chair of the Senate Committee on Alcoholism and Substance Abuse. The senator is calling for additional resources for treatment recovery and prevention initiatives. Read the full story at MidHudsonNews [dot] com.