Drug rehabilitation and addiction treatment centers around the country have been forced to close or limit operations due to the COVID-19 pandemic, which has left people without treatment options and may reverse strides made in recovery, according to Kaiser Health News.

Drug rehab centers, like nursing homes, are places where social distancing is difficult, since double-occupancy bedrooms and group therapy is common in these centers, Caleb Alexander, MD, a professor of epidemiology and medicine at Baltimore-based Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, told Kaiser Health News.

Though rehab and addiction treatment centers have instituted such safety measures as testing people for COVID-19 when they arrive for care, many people are reluctant to seek care at these centers. Marvin Ventrell, CEO of the National Association of Addiction Treatment Providers told Kaiser Health News, that many of its approximately 1,000 members saw their patient numbers decline as much as 50 percent in March and April.

Read Article from Kaiser Health News here