At the Bottom of the Bottle By Hazel Buckingham It seemed to begin as a humorous coping mechanism in the early days of the murmurs of COVID-19 in New Zealand. Snapchats of people with baskets of wine and beer “stocking up on the essentials” before lockdown and memes circulating about ‘entertaining’ home-schooling methods teaching children fractions with a wine glass. Then came the determination by the government that alcohol was an ‘essential service’ via supermarkets and Trusts, and an amendment to that decision later on that saw online sales and delivery also classified as
necessities. Zoom happy hours are now the new norm, and drinking during work hours is increasing too, with many Kiwis noticing that the five weeks of lockdown may have been the start of new drinking habits that are pretty damn difficult to shake. There’s been reports and research released all over the show regarding alcohol sales and drinking habits during this time and it’s hard to get an accurate picture of what is really going on. Some suggest alcohol spending has dramatically increased – the New Zealand Alcohol Beverages Council reported some liquor stores saw a 1800% spike in their daily sales prior to lockdown. Others claim we are actually decreasing our drinking habits, for example research by Nielsen and our Health Promotion Agency suggests 34% of New Zealanders are drinking less than usual. Regardless, it’s clear that alcohol is a hot topic surrounding COVID-19. While some suggest the crisis has simply highlighted our already unhealthy Kiwi drinking culture, I think it goes a bit deeper than that…