LONDON - A new study has found that deaths among homeless people in the US city of San Francisco more than doubled during the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic, British paper Daily Mail has reported.

Researchers from the University of California, San Francisco, found deaths among people "experiencing homelessness" rose to 311 in the year-long span from March 17, 2020 to March 17, 2021, the report said.

A surge in deaths caused by drug overdoses in particular accounted for nearly all of the increase, and none of the deaths were attributed to the virus itself, it added.

Researchers said while lockdown implemented during the period was effective at preventing the spread of the coronavirus, it also denied drug users' needed treatment to handle addiction and affected the chances a passerby could intervene in case of an overdose.