In a study entitled “Prohibiting alcohol sales during the coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic has

positive effects on health services in South Africa” (Reuter et al.,2020), we are exposed to views on
the impact of the alcohol sales ban during the countrywide lockdown due to the coronavirus disease
2019 (Covid-19) pandemic that was implemented in South Africa. The idea behind the ban was to
ensure capacity remained available to health services to deal with the pandemic by mitigating
alcohol-related illnesses, accidents, and injuries. The authors bring to the fore the benefits of the
ban. Reuter et al., (2020) support their ideas mainly through the use of quantitative data. Supportive
statistics indicate that the ban on alcohol sales led to a sharp reduction in unnatural deaths in the
country. A dramatic decrease in patient numbers of around 55 % linked to the consumption of
alcohol was also identified at one of the hospitals indicated in the study (Reuter et al., 2020). These
figures imply that the alcohol ban had a positive effect and its implementation was justified.

Matzopoulos et al. (2020), also reiterate that “The rationale in South Africa for implementing stricter
measures is founded partly on alcohol’s role in undermining social distancing and compromising
immune response”. Matzopoulos et al., (2020) believe so much in the alcohol sales ban that they
look at it as a learning point for the government to address related policies even under a
non-emergency situation. Violence-related trauma admissions and homicides in South Africa are
strongly associated with drinking. Alcohol imposes an enormous toll on South African society
through associated economic, social and health costs that are estimated at 10%-12% of gross
domestic product (Matzopoulos et al., 2020). These facts support the positive outcomes for health
services capacity which consequently allowed the country to be better prepared to handle Covid-19
cases.

In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, India also initiated several measures to slow down the
spread of the virus including the alcohol sales ban (Nadkarni et al., 2020). The same arguments
were made in support of restricting access to alcohol during lockdowns which additionally included
the negative impact of alcohol on the immune system making the drinker more vulnerable to poorer
outcomes if infected. As in South Africa, the possibility of alcohol in combination with confinement
fuelling and escalating domestic violence was also noted as a concern in India. An attempt to
reduce the burden on emergency services placed by acute effects of drinking such as intoxication
and injuries may have very well been successful in South Africa. Nadkarni et al, (2020), however
also highlight the problems associated with alcohol prohibition such as withdrawal symptoms,
drinking of illicitly distilled liquor and the impact on the livelihoods of families reliant on the alcohol
sales industry. What is now important is to analyze the situation and determine whether the ban
really helped the efforts to control the spread of the virus in South Africa using a set of indicators.

References

Matzopoulos, R., Walls, H., Cook, S., & London, L. (2020). South Africa's COVID-19 Alcohol Sales
Ban: The Potential for Better Policy-Making. ​International journal of health policy and management​,
10.34172/ijhpm.2020.93. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.34172/ijhpm.2020.93

Nadkarni, A., Kapoor, A., & Pathare, S. (2020). COVID-19 and forced alcohol abstinence in India:
The dilemmas around ethics and rights. ​International journal of law and psychiatry​, ​71,​ 101579.
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijlp.2020.101579

Reuter, H., Jenkins, L., De Jong, M., Reid, S., & Vonk, M. (2020). Prohibiting alcohol sales during
the coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic has positive effects on health services in South Africa.
African Journal of Primary Health Care & Family Medicine, 12​(1), 4 pages.
doi:​https://doi.org/10.4102/phcfm.v12i1.2528