After declining in the previous year, drug overdose deaths in the United States rose 18 percent in the 12-month period beginning Jun. 2019 and ending May 2020. According to the CDC, drug overdose deaths were already on the rise in 2019 but accelerated during the early months of the Wuhan coronavirus pandemic. A new CDC report reveals that approximately 81,230 people fatally overdosed in the United States during the 12-month period. It’s the largest number of drug overdoses for a one-year period ever recorded.