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British Columbia has now lost 1,068 lives this year to drug overdose, following another 147 overdose deaths recorded in August.
According to the latest report from the BC Coroners Service, last month's figures represent a 71 per cent increase over the number of deaths seen in August 2019, when 86 individuals died of drug overdose.
However, it does show a slight improvement from provincial numbers recorded in May, June and July of this year, with August's numbers decreasing by 16 per cent on the number of deaths recorded in July.
There were 15 deaths in the Interior region during August this year, which is just over 50 per cent of the number of deaths in the Interior during July (27).
Seven deaths took place in the Okanagan region during August, including three in Kelowna, and Thompson-Cariboo accounted for an additional five deaths.
To date, Kelowna and Kamloops have recorded 36 overdose deaths in 2020, exceeding numbers recorded this time last year in both cities.
Males are disproportionately represented in the provincial data, accounting for 862 of the 1,068 overdose deaths recorded in 2020 to date.
Female rates declined in August 2020 to average levels, whereas male levels remained high.
Data suggests fentanyl remains the most detected drug type in overdose deaths, accounting for 79 per cent of deaths in 2020 and 85 per cent of deaths in 2019.
"Post-mortem toxicology results suggest that there has been a greater number of cases with extreme fentanyl concentrations in Apr-Aug 2020 compared with previous months (concentrations exceeded >50ug/L (micrograms/litre))," reads the BC Coroners Service report.
"From Apr-Aug 2020, approximately 14% of cases had extreme fentanyl concentrations as compared to 8% from Jan 2019 to Mar 2020."
B.C. is on track to record the highest number of overdose deaths in a single year, tracking at a higher rate than 2018 which recorded 1,040 deaths by August, and now holds the highest annual death count (1,547) from the past decade.
