Drug overdose deaths in New Jersey have leaped 20% this year amid a pandemic that advocates fear has exacerbated drug abuse and made it harder for those with addictions to secure treatment.

New Jersey saw 1,339 people die of suspected drug overdoses in the first five months of the year, 225 more than were recorded in 2019 over the same time period, according to NJ Cares, the state’s drug information dashboard.

Though increases were seen even before the outbreak, May’s figures were alarming, officials said, when suspected deaths reached a high of 307 — nearly 10 a day.

“That’s the most that we’re aware of ever occurring in New Jersey,” State Police Lt. Jason Piotrowski said last week at an online town hall hosted by the Partnership for a Drug-Free New Jersey. About seven deaths a day have been typical, and he said he hopes May’s number proves to be an anomaly.

But with coronavirus cratering the economy and bringing unprecedented changes to day-to-day life, members of the recovery community say they worry they’ve been socked by a perfect storm of unforeseen events that have added to the despair of addiction.

Rising fatalities threaten to reverse even the small gains the state has seen in its battle with opioids, which have hit New Jersey hard, especially with the rise of fentanyl, a powerful synthetic often tied to fatal overdoses. Last year ended on a hopeful note, when New Jersey recorded 3,021 suspected overdose deaths in total, a drop of nearly 100 from 2018 and the first time in recent years that they decreased.

“These times are difficult for all of us,” Attorney General Gurbir Grewal said at the town hall, “and we know it can be even more difficult for those with opioid-use or substance-use disorders.”

For those struggling with addiction, social distancing has made it more difficult to access the support networks they need to stay sober. It has become harder to get into rehab, advocates say, with facilities screening patients more fully for fear they could bring the outbreak in with them. And with the anxieties that the contagion has wrought, those in recovery are more in danger of turning to unhealthy coping mechanisms.

"There’s no doubt that the stress, the trauma of what’s been going on with the pandemic has increased the use, abuse and dependency rates, which leads to overdoses,” Angela Conover, the Partnership for a Drug-Free New Jersey’s director of opioid response and prevention, said this week.

Even before the contagion broke out in March, New Jersey had seen a rise in suspected deaths in 2020. There were 280 in January, compared to 203 the year before. February recorded 256, versus 239 in 2019.

In a statement, a spokeswoman for NJ Cares said it to too early to draw conclusions about long-term trends, or how coronavirus could affect them. She said the state has taken steps to help during the pandemic, including expanding access to naloxone, the opioid overdose reversal drug, and compiling an online list of addiction and mental health treatment providers that remain open.

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