We also compared current alcohol consumption and the prevalence of binge drinking and extreme binge drinking in the past 30 days between participants who reported being very impacted by COVID-19 versus those who did not (Aim 2). Lastly, we examined whether U.S. adults reported that their alcohol intake had changed in the past 30 days compared to their drinking behaviors prior to COVID-19, and the reasons given for any perceived changes in their consumption (Aim 3). However, although almost two-thirds of the sample reported that their alcohol consumption had increased during COVID-19, it should be noted that 12.8% of the participants reported that their alcohol consumption had decreased. One factor in their decreased consumption might be that a larger percentage of these individuals were males without children.

1. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) were alerted to the first confirmed case of COVID-19 in the U.S. on 22 January 2020; the first reported death occurred on 29 February 2020 in Washington state 12,13.
2. This review looks at alcohol-related policies during the COVID-19 pandemic across all 50 states and the District of Columbia.
3. Fitted and predicted rates were generated using unadjusted segmented regression.
4. During the COVID-19 pandemic, people may experience higher levels of stress, depression, and anxiety.
5. One example is an NIAAA-supported study showing that fewer college students had AUD symptoms during the COVID-19 pandemic.

What are some healthier options for coping with stressful events and avoiding risky drinking behaviors?

All three authors (E.R.G., S.E.B.-N., and S.S.) were involved in the conceptualization, methodology, formal analysis, investigation, resources, and data curation, but the exact amount of their contributions for each part varied. Funding acquisition, E.R.G.; writing—original draft preparation, E.R.G.; writing—review and editing, S.E.B.-N. All authors have read and agreed to the published version of the manuscript.

Future research should examine the impact of having children currently in the home on parental alcohol consumption as this may help direct public health messaging. These participants who reported decreased alcohol consumption were also more likely to report being stressed by having to spend more time working which could have left less time for alcohol consumption. Lastly, it may be that COVID-19 restrictions or some other issue is related to the decrease in consumption. Most of the participants (91.7%) had consumed alcohol within the past year, with 80% having consumed it within the past 30 days. Participants reported consuming alcohol on a mean (standard deviation) of 12.2 (10.3) days and consuming a mean of 26.8 (24.7) alcohol drinks over the past 30 days (Table 2). Of those who consumed alcohol over the past 30 days, 34.1% reported binge drinking at least once and 7.0% reported extreme binge drinking over the past 30 days.

COVID-19 Research Impact

NIAAA’s free, research-based resources can help cut through the clutter and confusion about how alcohol affects people’s lives. It’s also worth noting that the effects of alcohol — and a hangover — may be particularly unpleasant if you also have COVID-19 symptoms. Alcohol can cause digestive upset, difficulty sleeping, trouble with concentration, and other unpleasant side effects that may worsen your symptoms. If you don’t have a physical dependency on alcohol, and you drink lightly or moderately, consider stopping while you have COVID-19. As a service to our readers, Harvard Health Publishing provides access to our library of archived content. Alcohol intolerance is a condition where the body reacts negatively to the consumption of alcohol.

How does drinking alcohol affect the body when you have an active COVID-19 infection?

Study limitations include underestimating high-acuity alcohol-related complications due to use of alcohol-specific billing codes, and potential changes in insurance enrollment patterns from before to after the pandemic. Further research is needed to determine whether the increases we observed persist several years after the pandemic onset. Objective  To assess trends in people with high-acuity alcohol-related complications admitted to the emergency department, observation unit, or what is smack drugs hospital during the COVID-19 pandemic, focusing on demographic differences.

Although the increases in alcohol sales did not remain at these levels, overall data for that time period showed that in-store purchases were up by 21% and online alcohol sales by 234% compared to 2019. It is unclear, however, whether individuals had been increasing their alcohol consumption or only stockpiling alcoholic beverages. Because of substantial and unexpected social and economic changes caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, many people turned to alcohol and other drugs to cope with those stressors.

While hand sanitizers containing 60-95% ethyl alcohol can help destroy the coronavirus on surfaces, drinking alcohol offers no protection from the virus. We spoke with George F. Koob, Ph.D., director of the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA), to learn about the pandemic’s effects on alcohol use and related harms. Koob is an expert on the biology of alcohol and drug addiction and has been studying the impact of alcohol on the brain for more than 50 years. He is a national leader in efforts to prevent and treat AUD and to educate people about risky alcohol use. To cope, many people turned to alcohol despite the risk of developing alcohol-related problems, including problem drinking and alcohol use disorder (AUD). At the same time, people with active alcohol use disorder shouldn’t suddenly stop drinking without medical supervision, as alcohol withdrawal can be dangerous.