Delivery of OST (buprenorphine, methadone) can be a public health issue in many countries, leading to brutal drop-out and discontinued medication. The subsequent opioid involuntary withdrawal can result in relapse to illicit opiate use, and increase the risk for all-cause and overdose mortality (Sordo et al., 2017). Individuals will be vulnerable to resuming illicit opioid use both to handle withdrawal and to self-medicate other comorbid disorders (highly prevalent in OUDs and increased by the outbreak) (Maxwell et al., 2009; Sun et al., 2020). A recent US Kentucky-specific study provides empirical evidence for concerns that opioid overdoses are rising during the COVID-19 pandemic (Slavova et al., 2020). Between January and April 2020, authors report a 17% increase in the number of emergency medical services opioid overdose runs with transportation to an emergency department, a 71% increase in runs with refused transportation, and a 50% increase in runs for suspected opioid overdoses with deaths at the scene. Individuals with opioid overdose may refuse transportation to the hospital for many reasons, including fear of exposure to COVID-19 (Slavova et al., 2020). Efforts are
