There were two overdose deaths in Kamloops in the month of January this year.

The BC Coroners Service says province wide there were 90 deaths, the most being in Vancouver (24) and Surrey (8).

Spokesperson Andy Watson says carfentanil was responsible for 13 of the deaths in January.

“When we’re looking at 9 in about every 10 deaths in 2018, and then also 8 in every 10 deaths for the start of 2019, we know fentanyl is an issue,” he said. “We urge people to look for safe supply where they can use safely.”

“The drug supply in British Columbia is toxic, we know that. We’re urging people to exercise caution and not to use alone. We’ll continue to try and provide updates as we see more trends.”

January’s figures show a 31 per cent decrease when compared to January 2018’s stats (130) and a 22 per cent decrease over the number of deaths in December 2018 (116).

Watson adds that middle-aged men, who made up 83 per cent of fatalities in January, are still the most affected demographic.

Figures from 2019 show 76 per cent of fatalities were people aged between 30 to 59, averaging to roughly 2.9 deaths per day.

In 2018, Kamloops saw 48 fatalities, an average of four each month.