Institute for Social Marketing and Health, University of Stirling, Stirling, UK.
SPECTRUM Consortium, Edinburgh, UK.
Drug Alcohol Rev. 2022 Mar;41(3):533-545. doi: 10.1111/dar.13413. Epub 2021 Dec 13.
The COVID-19 pandemic necessitated unprecedented changes in alcohol availability, including closures, curfews and restrictions. We draw on new data from three UK studies exploring these issues to identify implications for premises licensing and wider policy.
(i) Semi-structured interviews (n = 17) with licensing stakeholders in Scotland and England reporting how COVID-19 has reshaped local licensing and alcohol-related harms; (ii) semi-structured interviews (n = 15) with ambulance clinicians reporting experiences with alcohol during the pandemic; and (iii) descriptive and time series analyses of alcohol-related ambulance callouts in Scotland before and during the first UK lockdown (1 January 2019 to 30 June 2020).
COVID-19 restrictions (closures, curfews) affected on-trade premises only and licensing stakeholders highlighted the relaxation of some laws (e.g. on takeaway alcohol) and a rise in home drinking as having long-term risks for public health. Ambulance clinicians described a welcome break from pre-pandemic mass public intoxication and huge reductions in alcohol-related callouts at night-time. They also highlighted potential long-term risks of increased home drinking. The national lockdown was associated with an absolute fall of 2.14 percentage points [95% confidence interval (CI) -3.54, -0.74; P = 0.003] in alcohol-related callouts as a percentage of total callouts, followed by a daily increase of +0.03% (95% CI 0.010, 0.05; P = 0.004).
COVID-19 gave rise to both restrictions on premises and relaxations of licensing, with initial reductions in alcohol-related ambulance callouts, a rise in home drinking and diverse impacts on businesses. Policies which may protect on-trade businesses, while reshaping the night-time economy away from alcohol-related harms, could offer a 'win-win' for policymakers and health advocates.
COVID-19 大流行要求对酒精供应进行前所未有的改变，包括关闭场所、宵禁和限制。我们利用来自英国三项研究的新数据来探讨这些问题，以确定对场所许可和更广泛政策的影响。
（i）对苏格兰和英格兰的许可利益相关者进行半结构化访谈（n=17），报告 COVID-19 如何重塑当地许可和与酒精相关的伤害；（ii）对救护车临床医生进行半结构化访谈（n=15），报告大流行期间的酒精相关经历；（iii）在苏格兰进行描述性和时间序列分析，在第一次英国封锁之前和期间（2019 年 1 月 1 日至 2020 年 6 月 30 日）与酒精相关的救护车出动。
COVID-19 限制（关闭、宵禁）仅影响现场营业场所，许可利益相关者强调一些法律的放宽（例如外卖酒精）和家庭饮酒增加对公共健康有长期风险。救护车临床医生描述了从大流行前大规模公众醉酒中得到的可喜休息，以及夜间与酒精相关的出动减少了很多。他们还强调了家庭饮酒增加的潜在长期风险。全国封锁与与酒精相关的出动百分比（总出动的百分比）绝对下降了 2.14 个百分点[95%置信区间（CI）-3.54，-0.74；P=0.003]，随后每天增加+0.03%（95% CI 0.010，0.05；P=0.004）。
COVID-19 导致场所限制和许可放宽，最初减少了与酒精相关的救护车出动，家庭饮酒增加，对企业产生了不同的影响。可能保护现场营业场所的政策，同时使夜间经济远离与酒精相关的伤害，可能为政策制定者和健康倡导者提供“双赢”。
