Austin, Texas, officials announced on Monday a deadly and drastic increase in opioid overdose calls with at least thirty cases taking place in one day.
Austin Police Department and Austin-Travis County EMS said four people died from the overdoses and acknowledged that number could grow.
The emergency calls started coming in for the downtown area between Sixth and Eighth Streets, but soon spread across the city.
A typical day in Travis County sees about two or three overdose calls, making Monday’s 30 calls a 1,000% increase in call volume.
“When we see outbreaks like this, the suspicion is essentially there is a ‘new batch in town,’” a city official said.
Travis County in 2023 led the state of Texas in fentanyl-related deaths by population.
Last week, Republican Texas Governor Greg Abbott criticized Sleepy Joe Biden’s open border policies, posting to X, “Pres. Biden’s open border policies are flooding our streets with deadly fentanyl, endangering the lives of Americans. Since 2021, Texas has seized over 475 MILLION lethal doses of fentanyl. We continue to fight back against the fentanyl crisis plaguing our state and the nation.”
Pres. Biden’s open border policies are flooding our streets with deadly fentanyl, endangering the lives of Americans.
Since 2021, Texas has seized over 475 MILLION lethal doses of fentanyl.
We continue to fight back against the fentanyl crisis plaguing our state and the nation. pic.twitter.com/VkOEnljxSl
— Gov. Greg Abbott (@GovAbbott) April 25, 2024
