Tennessee’s overdose epidemic continues to worsen. Though 2020 data is still preliminary, the Tennessee Department of Health says the increasing trends combined with the exacerbating effects of the COVID-19 pandemic have formed what will be the state’s deadliest year for overdoses.

A new report from the Office of Informatics and Analytics says fatal overdoses in 2020 are expected to greatly exceed those in 2019. Estimates gathered from January to September 2020 had already surpassed the total number for all of 2019 with the highest number of opioid overdoses reported in May than any other month in 2020.

Read the full report here.