Experts continue to sound the alarms when it comes to opioids and the COVID-19 pandemic.
"When you pile on the forced need for physical distancing that the pandemic requires, you have a recipe for disaster for people who are already struggling with their disease of addiction," said Lydia Burr at Hazelden Betty Ford in St. Paul. "The disease of addiction really breeds in isolation."
Burr, the Director of Clinical Services for Hazelden Betty Ford, says the conversation around opioids needs to be about the dangers of fentanyl.
"Fentanyl is sometimes cut into chemicals other than opiates as well," Burr said. "Some people aren't even taking an opiate and then fentanyl is present in whatever they are taking."
The dangers of opioids were realized once again last year in Hennepin County. Opioid-related deaths increased 68 percent in 2020 compared to 2019.
"We don't need a lot of statistics to know that people need help," Burr said. "There are people out there with an empty place at a kitchen table because their loved one died of an opiate overdose."
Treatment remains available all across Minnesota, which witnessed an increase in opioid-related deaths as a whole in 2020.
Despite the COVID-19 pandemic moving a lot of treatments to telehealth services, there were still in-person resources. Two Narcan distribution and syringe exchanges in north and south Minneapolis were able to stay open in 2020.
"Both of those operations that are reaching out to our substance use communities were not disrupted," said Hennepin County Opioid Response Coordinator, Julie Bauch. "We were still able to see people in-person and we were still able to do the education and harm reduction services that we'd normally be able to do."
Group help and other treatments were primarily moved to telehealth. Bauch said telehealth did receive good reviews from providers for the ability to reach more people on a broader scale.
"There is a group of folks who say it's not the same," Bauch said. "They say they're not getting the same personal, human experience that so many people in recovery need."
In-patient care is still happening at Hazelden Betty Ford while outpatient care is virtual, for now.
"There's not a right or wrong here," Burr said. "Really, the need is for us to be able to offer both. People are reaching out to get the help they need. I'm very grateful that we can continue to serve our mission."
