There were no suspected overdose deaths in Kamloops in September and October according to new data from the BC Coroners Service.

In all, there have been 24 illicit drug deaths in Kamloops in the first 10 months of this year.

“I think what we are seeing in Kamloops mirrors what we are seeing across most of the rest of British Columbia where we are seeing a decrease year over year, and month over month, and we continue to look at what’s working and continue to try and build on that,” said Coroners spokesperson Andy Watson.

In all, there were 69 overdose deaths in October across B.C. – a 42 per cent decline in the number of deaths from October 2018.

That said, with 823 overdose deaths in the province this year, Watson and the Coroners Service are still urging people to remain cautious about an unpredictable and toxic drug supply in the province.

“We must remain vigilant. I mean despite the fact that the average number of deaths in Kamloops has dropped from about 3.8 per month in 2018 to about 2.4 per month in 2019, we know the drug supply is unpredictable, toxic and therefore prudence and caution needs to be taken,” Watson added.

There were 48 suspected drug overdose deaths in Kamloops for all of 2018

The coroners’ service says the crisis is far from over, pointing out that B.C. paramedics responded to more than 20,000 overdose calls between January and October this year.