More than twice as many people died from overdoses in San Francisco in 2020 than from COVID-19, and this year may be just as bad.
The city's Street Overdose Response Team is working to change that.
Most of these overdose deaths are tied to fentanyl, a synthetic opioid that is much more powerful than heroin.
Seven hundred and twelve people overdosed and died in San Francisco in 2020, and data from 2021 points to a similar tragic trend.
(Keep in mind that those numbers would be much higher were it not for Narcan, a drug that can reverse the effects of an overdose.)
While the vast majority of residents in the Bay Area have been focused on COVID-19, dedicated people working with San Francisco's health and fire departments have also been saving the lives of people who have overdosed on city streets, and in apartments and hotels.
Full disclosure: I am friends with Capt. Michael Mason, who was interviewed for this story, and I think he's a saint.