World Health Organization to issue a two-page statement on the topic.
“Avoid alcohol altogether so that you do not undermine your own immune system and health and do not risk the health of others,” it advises. “Heavy alcohol use is a risk factor for acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS), one of the most severe complications of COVID-19.”
Being acutely intoxicated is also bad news for those in confined domestic spaces. Farrell says that apart from an increase in alcohol-related accidents, there’s a higher likelihood of conflict. “If someone is already short-fused and in difficult relationships alcohol is often paraffin on a fire to these sorts of situations,” he says.
The United Nations has warned of a surge in domestic violence across the world during quarantine, with calls to helplines in China up threefold compared to the same period last year. In Lebanon and Malaysia, the number of calls doubled. Domestic violence-related deaths during lockdown were reported in the UK, France, Spain, Japan, and Italy, among other countries.
There are also concerns that this shift in our drinking behaviour could have implications further down the line. “Acute social change it’s always associated with destabilised behaviour,” says Farrell. With so much of our lives being disrupted – economically, sociologically, psychologically and physically – could we be picking up drinking habits that will be hard to shift?
Read more from this BBC article here
