Opioid-related deaths in Northern Ontario in the early COVID-19 pandemic period.

Objectives: In the first year of pandemic measures, opioid-related deaths across Ontario's (ON) 34 public health units (PHUs) increased by 60%. Death rates for all seven Northern ON PHUs were above the provincial average. This study describes and compares factors surrounding opioid-related deaths before and after pandemic measures were introduced, for Northern ON compared to the rest of ON.