Drug overdose deaths rose in the first three months of this year, according to preliminary numbers released Wednesday by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
The data, showing a roughly 10% increase in fatalities, offer a first official snapshot of the pandemic's impact on Americans suffering addiction.
If this trend continues, the CDC estimates the U.S. will suffer more than 75,500 drug-related deaths in 2020, setting a bleak record for a second year in a row.
This wasn't unexpected. Federal officials warned over the summer they were seeing increases in drug use nationwide as the coronavirus spread.
The crisis also limited the ability of many addiction treatment programs to provide services.
"Every indication we have in terms of stress, in terms of surveys about increasing [drug] use during the pandemic, basically everything is pointed in the wrong direction," said Adm. Brett Giroir, assistant secretary for the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services during a webcast in August.
Experts don't blame the spike in fatalities entirely on pressures linked to the coronavirus.

Drug overdose is the same as "drinking disinfectant water". The prospects for the prevention and control of Covid-19 in the United States remain uncertain. Under the chaotic epidemic prevention measures, no one can predict, only President Trump firmly believes that the virus will disappear automatically.