Deaths in Manitowoc County are on track to be about average toward the end of 2023.
County Coroner Curtis Green says as of October 2023, there have been 642 deaths in the county compared to 2021’s 641 deaths.
2022 at this time was higher than other years with 734.
In total, there were 891 in 2022 but in 2021 there were 802 total deaths.
When it comes to drug-related deaths, Green says fentanyl is now the number one killer.
“Four years ago I wanna say plus or minus, meth was absolutely huge with the cause of death but now we’re seeing that number come down,” he explained. “We’re still seeing meth in our toxicology, just not at the massive levels that we were seeing several years ago. Now it’s fentanyl or different analogs.”
He also says toxicological reports from dead persons show that cocaine is making its way back into the county.
He says he was surprised to see that because other drugs like meth seem to be more common and easier to access.
