The corona-vultures continue to circle, crowbarring their obsessions into the COVID-19 conversation. Here's a round up from the last week.
1. The Royal College of Psychiatrists asserts, without a shred of evidence, that drinking more than 14 units a week increases the risk of COVID-19 complications:
Drinking alcohol might be a way of relaxing or taking your mind off the constant stream of news about COVID-19. But if you drink more than 14 units a week, it can negatively affect your health, including by making you more at risk from the effects of COVID-19.
The model used to justify the drinking guidelines was changed at the eleventh hour after the modellers negotiated an extra payment from Public Health England. The idea that 14 units a week reflects the threshold for mortality is garbage. The idea that the model correctly predicted the threshold for coronavirus complications is insane.
The RCP, bless them, add this much needed disclaimer:
The content in this resource is provided for general information only. It is not intended to, and does not, amount to advice which you should rely on.
You can say that again.
2. In America, certain people are trying to keep the previous 'epidemic' alive...
Clive Bates watched this webinar so you don't have to.
3. In South Africa, the crime rate has apparently gone down since alcohol was banned for the 21 day lockdown. A police general wants to make the prohibition permanent.
Police minister warns public against fake videos and pulls no punches when it comes to alcohol prohibition laws, saying they should remain in place even after lockdown.
Police Minister Bheki Cele has given the clearest indication yet that regulations prohibiting the sale and drinking of alcohol during the lockdown will not be relaxed, even remarking that he wished they were extended beyond this period.
It seems likely that forcing people to stay indoors all day long has helped cut the crime rate. Presumably the police's job would be made easier if we made that permanent too?
In any case, historians may recall that alcohol prohibition doesn't have a great record when it comes to cutting crime.
Another liquor store looted in Cape Town. This time in Avonwood, Elsies River. #LOCKSOUTHAFRICADOWN #LockdownMzansi #Covid_19SA pic.twitter.com/pOfX8XQUt0— Quinton Mtyala (@mtyala) April 9, 2020
4. In Britain, the fuzz continue to enforce whatever they think the law should be. This is one of many examples...
There is no law which prevents retailers selling "non essential" items. There is a list of retailers which can stay open and they can sell what they sell. And even if there were, who defines "non-essential"? https://t.co/jpcO0GRJ4l— Adam Wagner (@AdamWagner1) April 10, 2020
5. Tobacco Control magazine has endorsed the prohibition of cigarettes for years - it is what they call the 'endgame' at the bottom of the slippery slope. You'll never guess what they think the lesson of COVID-19 is...
The tobacco cigarette pandemic is like COVID-19 in slow motion. The need to ‘flatten the curve’ is urgent. The fact that the tobacco epidemic curve is only partially flattened (in some countries) is widely accepted because the cigarette pandemic has been with us for so long, and the tobacco industry has been extraordinarily successful at conditioning the public and policymakers to accept it as a given. If governments had acted to protect the public from tobacco with a fraction of the effort (and financial investment) they have exerted to control this coronavirus, many millions of lives could have been saved, and underlying demand on health services significantly reduced. The world will emerge from the COVID-19 pandemic changed. Phasing out cigarette sales would be an enormous long-term gain for public health.
After all this time, they still haven't worked out the difference between voluntarily engaging in a risky but rewarding activity and being infected with a potentially fatal virus.
6. Finally, the death rate from COVID-19 is disproportionately high among black people in the USA. There are several possible reasons for this. They are more likely to live in big cities such as New York where the disease is rife, they are more likely to work in essential industries, and they are more likely to be morbidly obese (a major risk factor for coronavirus complications).
In the face of this crisis, the US Surgeon-General retreated into his comfort zone and told black Americans to... stop drinking and smoking.
During Friday's White House briefing, Surgeon General Jerome Adams told Americans of color to follow safety procedures during the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic for "your Big Mama," including to "avoid alcohol, tobacco and drugs."
These comments led to Adams - who is black - being improbably accused of racism. The implication that black people drink, smoke and take drugs more than whites is certainly wrong, but the real problem is that there isn't really any evidence that these behaviours make people more likely to die from COVID-19.
It's another example of the legacy 'public health' establishment struggling to come to terms with a health problem that can't be addressed by hectoring people about their lifestyle. When you're dealing with a highly infectious virus, 'don't drink and don't smoke' isn't advice. It's a mantra.
Later, when pressed on whether he thought 'all Americans should avoid tobacco, alcohol and drug use at all times' the Surgeon General was happy to set the record straight.
'Absolutely. It's especially important for people who are at risk and with co-morbidities. But yes, all Americans. So thank you and I will clarify that. All Americans need to avoid these substances at all times.'
In other words, he had taken the opportunity presented by coronavirus to tell people to do what he thought they should be doing anyway. There's a lot of this around at the moment.
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