A spike is concerning but we mustn’t lose sight of longer term trends across the UK Provisional data for England and Wales from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) show a sharp increase in deaths from alcohol specific causes between April and September 2020.1 The figures add to concerns that the wider health and wellbeing consequences of the covid-19 pandemic include an increase in alcohol related harm, although the reasons behind this rise are unclear. News media have highlighted large increases in alcohol sales in the UK during the pandemic, but these typically relate only to shop bought alcohol and do not account for similarly large reductions in drinking in pubs and restaurants.2 Analyses that include all alcohol sales suggest smaller changes. For example, an analysis of alcohol sales data for Great Britain estimated alcohol consumption fell by 6% both in Scotland and in England and Wales between March and July 2020.3 Small changes in consumption at the population level may, however, mask large increases in higher risk groups. Surveys consistently find that 15-30% …

中文翻译：

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英格兰和威尔士的酒精中毒死亡人数急剧上升

激增令人担忧，但我们绝不能忽视整个英国的长期趋势。国家统计局（ONS）的英格兰和威尔士临时数据显示，特定于酒精的原因导致的死亡人数急剧上升，在2020.1至9月之间。令人担忧的是，covid-19大流行所带来的更广泛的健康和福祉后果包括与酒精有关的伤害增加，尽管这种增加的原因尚不清楚。新闻媒体强调，大流行期间英国的酒精销售额大幅增长，但这些通常仅与商店购买的酒精有关，并没有说明酒吧和饭店的饮酒量也出现了类似的大幅减少。2包括所有酒精销售额在内的分析均表明变化较小。例如，一项针对英国的酒精饮料销售数据的分析估计，3月至7月之间，苏格兰，英格兰和威尔士的酒精饮料消费量均下降了6％。2020.3人口水平上的酒精消费量的小幅变化可能掩盖了高风险人群的大幅增加。调查一致发现，有15-30％的人...