CDC: 23% increase in deaths from excessive drinking

Abstract

There was a 23% increase in deaths from excessive alcohol use from 2018–2019 to 2020–2021, the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported in the Feb. 29 issue of the CDC's Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report. This compares to a 5% increase that occurred from 2016–2017 to 2018–2019. The researchers attributed the increase to the availability of alcohol in many states during the pandemic, which at its peak saw policies that expanded alcohol carry‐out and delivery to homes, and places that sold alcohol for off‐premises consumption. The purpose of these policies was to limit transmission of the COVID‐19 virus.