13 overdose deaths in Yukon so far this year is double last year's total toll

The number of fatal overdoses in Yukon has leaped to 13 so far this year, more than doubling the number recorded in the territory for all of last year.

Yukon Health Minister Pauline Frost says most of the deaths are linked to increasingly toxic opioids that have replaced the regular supply of street drugs during the COVID-19 pandemic.

She says drug testing will be stepped up across Yukon and several other harm reduction measures are being launched.

Enhanced training on the use of naloxone, which can reverse opioid overdoses, begins next week in Watson Lake and the community will proclaim August as harm reduction awareness month.