The upward trend of overdose deaths that started during COVID-19 lockdowns continued in 2022 that saw nearly 110,000 people die from overdoses across the U.S., which is the highest ever recorded and eclipsed the previous high the year earlier. 

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention counted 109,680 deaths in 2022, which is slightly higher than the official count of 109,179 in 2021. About 75,000 deaths last year were attributed to fentanyl and other synthetic opioids, a 4 percent increase from the year earlier.

The CDC said there was also an 11 percent increase in deaths tied to cocaine and a 3 percent jump in deaths tied to meth and other stimulants, the Associated Press reported.

“One could have expected that as many of the challenges imposed by the COVID pandemic were resolved, we would see a deep dive in the number of overdose deaths. It’s concerning [that] we have not seen that” Dr. Nora Volkow, director of the National Institute on Drug Abuse, told NPR. 

TRENDPOST: As we have long noted, the “COVID-19 pandemic” is not to be blamed for imposing lockdowns that crushed the economy and the human spirit. Lockdowns were imposed by power-hungry politicians drunk on expanding their rule over We the People of Slavelandia. (See “COVID-19 FALLOUT: SUICIDE RATES IN U.S. JUMP FOR FIRST TIME IN YEARS AMID LOCKDOWNS” 18 Apr 2023, “COVID LOCKDOWNS, NOT THE ‘PANDEMIC’ RUINED LIFE ON EARTH” 4 Apr 2023, and “COVID-19 LOCKDOWNS LEFT CHILDREN BRAIN DAMAGED, NEW STUDY SUGGESTS” 6 Dec 2022.)

Gerald Celente has long said the ramifications from the authoritarian lockdowns in the West are incalculable and will only be fully realized years from now when documented by historians.

The U.S. announced earlier this month that its COVID-19 emergency order has ended. (See “U.S. FORMALLY ENDS ITS CRISIS RESPONSE TO COVID-19 OUTBREAK” 16 May 2023.)

About 1.13 million Americans died from the virus and 6.1 million have been hospitalized. There are about 332 million Americans, which means the so-called “pandemic” killed .35 percent of the population and 99.65 percent are still alive. 

Also, as the data proves, those who died from the coronavirus were obese, Type 2 diabetics, respiratory ailments, elderly and/or suffering from preexisting comorbidities. 

Blame it on Fentanyl

The U.S. government and the same health officials who locked down society have identified the popularity of fentanyl as the main contributing factor for these overdose deaths. They want you to forget that there was a 30 percent increase in 2020 and 15 percent increase in 2021—at the height of the lockdowns.

The White House spin was in full effect and noted that the surge in overdose deaths seems to be flattening out because of its effort to offer “expanded treatment to millions of Americans.”

“We’re improving access to Naloxone to reverse overdoses, and we’re attacking the illicit fentanyl supply chain at every choke point,” Dr. Rahul Gupta, head of the Office of National Drug Control Policy in a statement obtained by NPR. 

The AP noted that in 2018, overdose deaths in the U.S. were down 4 percent to about 67,000 before rising to 71,000 in 2019.

Again, the media attempted to present COVID-19 as some kind of “pandemic” but the virus was the fourth leading cause of death in the U.S. in 2022, behind heart disease, cancer, and unintentional injury.