2021 is now B.C.'s deadliest year in the opioid crisis, with 2 months of data left to collect

With weeks left to go, 2021 is already the deadliest year in B.C.'s nearly six-year-long opioid crisis, the latest data on illicit drug overdoses suggests.

With weeks left to go, 2021 is already the deadliest year in B.C.'s nearly six-year-long opioid crisis, the latest data on illicit drug overdoses suggests.

Information released Thursday from the province's chief coroner showed there were 201 suspected illicit drug overdoses that month, the highest-ever number of deaths recorded in a single month.

It equates to an average of about 6.5 deaths each day of the month.

The October update brings the total death toll this year to 1,782. According to Chief Coroner Lisa Lapointe, it's the highest number of deaths ever recorded in a calendar year in B.C.

Lapointe will present the data at a news conference in Victoria. CTVNewsVancouver.ca is streaming the news conference LIVE NOW.

This is a breaking news story and will be updated. Original copy follows.