August 2, 2021
"In April 2020, shortly after shelter-in-place took effect, drug-related overdose cases fell at Community Hospital of the Monterey Peninsula to less than half than before the pandemic began, from over 40 per month to only 17, says Reb Close, a CHOMP emergency room physician and co-founder of Prescribe Safe Monterey County. In summer, the numbers jumped back up to pre-pandemic levels and since January, they’ve steadily increased. “It’s just been really getting out of hand,” Close says."