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Cook County is facing another health crisis in the middle of the COVID-19 pandemic: a spike in the number of opioid-related deaths.
County Board President Toni Preckwinkle on Tuesday said the county is on pace to see twice as many deaths from opioid overdoses than it did in 2019.
She also says communities of color are especially hard hit.
Cook County health leaders say there are several reasons for the rise in opioid deaths.
Those include increased despair because of the COVID-19 pandemic; fewer people seeking medical help for overdoses during the outbreak, and shortages of the drug Naloxone used to treat opioid overdoses in the hardest-hit communities.
Cook County hopes about 5 million dollars in federal and state grants over the next four years will help increase Naloxone supplies and reduce the number of people dying from opioid overdoses.