Spike in overdoses in late April, naloxone-use up 250 per cent

The opioid crisis continues to pick up speed, and take Waterloo Region into uncharted waters when it comes to overdoses.

The Region of Waterloo posting an update to its Overdose Monitoring Report, showing a serious increase leading up to May 5th.

In the last two weeks of April, there were 31 opioid-related emergency calls – which is an 11 per cent spike from the beginning of that month.

That’s not the only alarming development either.

Officials say the anti-overdosing drug Naloxone was administered 7 times – up 250 per cent from just two weeks before.

These latest numbers come as communities across Ontario and Canada continue to try and tackle the opioid epidemic.

Totals show there were 197 overdose-related calls back in 2015 – and last year alone, that number rose to 797.

A further breakdown shows there were 580 confirmed overdoses in Waterloo Region, resulting in 71 fatalities.

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