Heavy drinking during the first year of the Covid-19 pandemic could have led to 67 deaths in Wirral, new figures show.
Deaths directly caused by excess drinking rose by a record 20% across England in 2020, with thousands of people losing their lives.
The "devastating increase" is stark evidence of the pandemic’s impact on people’s drinking patterns, according to charities Drinkaware and Alcohol Change UK.
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Public Health England data showed deaths recorded from the Wirral made up for 67 of the 6,985 who died from alcohol-specific causes across the country last year.
That is up 11 from the 56 recorded in the borough in 2019.
Mary Jordan, Councillor for Clatterbridge Ward and Vice Chair Adult Social Care and Public Health Committee said she was saddened by the latest Wirral statistics.
She told the ECHO: "Research following the SARS pandemic pointed to an increase in alcohol consumption, my question is has the COVID pandemic had a similar impact, no doubt current ongoing research will quantify this.
"However alcohol misuse can not only result in fatality for the addict, but it wrecks the lives of those loved ones who watch this demise with a feeling of helplessness.
"That’s why I welcome the extra funding from Central Government to combat drug and alcohol misuse, in particular the emphasis on treatment and rehabilitation."
Chief executive of Alcohol Change UK, Dr Richard Piper, explained that as many as one in four people drank more in 2020, and as a result could have developed habits that will be "hard to break".
He said: “Any one of us can find ourselves drinking harmfully. And every one of us deserves to live a full life free from the harm caused by alcohol, and to have high-quality, early support if we do find ourselves struggling.
“The harm caused by alcohol goes beyond this unacceptable, avoidable loss of life. Millions more suffer from worsened mental and physical health every day as a result of harmful drinking – a huge one in 10 hospital inpatients are alcohol-dependent – and the harm ripples out, affecting children, families and communities.”
He said the Government must act urgently - while the announcement of significant new funding for drug and alcohol treatment services was welcome, more preventative measures were needed, such as clearer labelling, Minimum Unit Pricing, and sensible limits to marketing alcohol to children.
The latest figures from the government released earlier this month suggest 13 in every 100,000 people in England died solely because of alcohol abuse last year.
The rate in Wirral was much higher sitting at 20.
During that time, authorities registered a total of 20,500 deaths nationally that were either wholly or partially related to alcohol consumption – 175 people lost their lives for this reason locally.
Annabelle Bonus, Drinkaware's director for evidence and impact, said damaging drinking habits picked up during periods of lockdown may have become ingrained.
She said: "While there’s much that still needs to be understood about the causes behind this, our research shows worrying trends from the first lockdown have continued with a third (30%) of high-risk drinkers drinking more in May than before the pandemic, suggesting that for many habits have become ingrained.
"To prevent more lives being destroyed and help address inequalities the government must place alcohol harm reduction at the centre of public health priorities.”
