Experiment- stop serving alcohol- will it improve awareness of social distancing and reduce the spread? Discuss

[InthekeyofG]

Now don’t get me wrong, I like drinking beer down the pub.
However, after a certain amount I have less inhibition. That’s a fact of alcohol.
But I’m wondering, if for a trial period of time, alcoholic drinks were stopped being served in pubs, bars, restaurants etc - would that be one added way of reducing the spread of Covid?
Places could still sell everything else, including low alcohol drink brands.
People could still drink at home. I’m not suggesting complete prohibition as we know that doesn’t work.
What do you think?

*Because I don't know anyone who goes to pubs at all.

Restaurants, and theatre bars, yes, but not pubs. I thought they were dying off.*

Further proof some of Mumsnet is disconnected from reality.

Let's go to the theatre while we deprive the damm great unwashed of there drink.

We used to have "last orders" in pubs. There were a few select nightclubs but none of the widespread regular binge drinking that's we have now.
And pubs did a great trade .

South Africa leant nothing from the alcohol prohibition in the United States, now they have a huge underground alcohol industry and people have no issues at all obtaining as much as they want.

At the same time they have destroyed South African Breweries an wine trade - their government is as stupid as our own.

I just think if they did that people wouldn't bother going. As much as I want an end to covid, I desperately don't want more of our nation's pubs forced to close down. They are such a big part of our history in the UK and it was bad enough pre covid!
I'm not even a big drinker but I'll be making sure as long as pubs are open, I'll be going regularly to support them (on a Wednesday eve when it's quiet!)

Nearly half of covid infections are happening in care homes. I don’t think it will make a blind bit of difference what happens in pubs.

Wouldn’t it be spreading in care homes precisely because people are spreading in pubs and other non-socially distanced settings first!

We used to have "last orders" in pubs. There were a few select nightclubs but none of the widespread regular binge drinking that's we have now. And pubs did a great trade.

There was plenty of binge drinking in the days of last orders, plenty! I was one of them back in my student days! In fact, last orders encouraged it as people would down drinks quickly in the last few minutes.

Why are so many people so desperate to absolutely ruin the hospitality industry? Is it that you don't go out so it doesn't matter? Is it that you don't have friends or family who work in pubs and restaurants?

Virtually nobody is going to go to a pub that isn't serving alcohol.

Get some bloody perspective.

There's still 'last orders' in my village pub at 11pm. It's always been that way. Sometimes much earlier on a Sunday (I've known it be called at 8.30pm if there's hardly anyone in and they want an early night.) I think the longer hours might be just a city thing?

But then this is also a pub where, from the re-opening date, it was very clear that no seat = no service, booking even for drinks was strongly recommended, app ordering was preferred with table service the only alternative and all tables were at least 2m apart (much further in a lot of cases - the beer garden is huge) and there were perspex screens between tables inside. It was on the news for having a safe reopening model in June. I seriously doubt anyone has caught Covid from there.

It would be very unfair to penalise places like that that followed the rules from the start.

Plus, people would just bring back Speakeasy type places.

It would make sense to ban alcohol in public places if you're going to furlough every pub and its staff which is a huge financial drain for the government.

You've also then got to enforce any groups gathering at home.

[quote lughnasadh]@XiCi I just meant that pubs are not places that the majority of people go these days.

I can't see how they are a major transmission vector.

The pubs around here seem to attract white men aged 40+, and no one else.[/quote]
Pubs are a dying medium. A lot of younger people now don't drink. Most pubs are called 'old man' pubs for a reason.

And a lot of people who do drink, will drink at home anyway.

There was plenty of binge drinking in the days of last orders, plenty! I was one of them back in my student days! In fact, last orders encouraged it as people would down drinks quickly in the last few minutes
Lol yes, everyone used to just get 6 each at last orders and carry on

I live in a city annabel85 and that is not the case. Bars/pubs packed every weekend with a wide range of age groups. There is a variety of trendy bars, traditional pubs, micro breweries etc where I live and all do well.

No one (well almost no one) wants to go to the pub and drink Fanta lemon.

There’s no way they’d stop selling booze in the off trade. That’s a sure fire way to provoke civil unrest.

Pubs staying open under controlled conditions are a good thing if you ask me. Much easier to police and monitor than the house parties that would replace them.

I don’t think the answer is to ban alcohol. That would ruin pubs and have no impact.

People who would have gone to the pub, got drunk and not socially distance, aren’t suddenly going to become teetotal. They will just do the same at people’s houses where they’d be no mitigation in place.