First published in the Daily Maverick 168 weekly newspaper.
The second Covid-19 wave has receded, prompting the unbanning of the sale of alcohol. There is scant data available showing exactly how the ban affected hospital emergency units during the second wave, but the little that there is suggests it had a similar impact during both waves. Though the short-term objective might have been achieved, a sustainable reduction in alcohol-related trauma cases is more elusive.
It has been repeated by President Cyril Ramaphosa and Health Minister Zweli Mkhize that the ban on the sale of alcohol decreased the burden of trauma cases on hospitals in the second wave of Covid-19, just as it had during the first.