Utah has not seen an increase in deaths by suicide or drug overdose since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, according to a new report from the Utah Department of Health.
The report, which was released on Thursday, states that suicide rates in Utah did not increase during the first 39 weeks of 2020 and that suicide rates in state for last year are consistent with the rates over the past three years.
The number of reported drug overdoses remained stable through the first 50 weeks of 2020. Fatal drug overdoses were also stable throughout the first 39 weeks of last year. This death count from these overdoses was consistent with 2019 and lower than the death count in 2018.
The study believes these results may be due to the resources for substance abuse and mental health Utah already had in place.