CHICAGO – Illinoisans are awaiting breathlessly Gov Pritzker's next announcement concerning COVID 19 restrictions.
Will Pritzker extend the shelter-in-place orders past April 30th? If so, for how long? Virginia's is June 10th. New York is suggesting sometime in August for their state.
And will the Democrat in his second year as governor heed the World Health Organization's urging to return to the 1920's Prohibition era?
The World Health Organization is warning that drinking alcohol makes people more susceptible to the coronavirus, and is urging governments to uphold, or even strengthen, restrictions on buying booze.
In a statement this week, WHO’s Regional Office for Europe said that alcohol consumption “compromises the body’s immune system and increases the risk of adverse health outcomes. Therefore, people should minimize their alcohol consumption at any time, and particularly during the COVID-19 pandemic.”
“Alcohol is responsible for 3 million deaths a year worldwide,” WHO said. “Existing rules and regulations to protect health and reduce harm caused by alcohol, such as restricting access, should be upheld and even reinforced during the COVID-19 pandemic and emergency situations.”
“During the COVID-19 pandemic, we should really ask ourselves what risks we are taking in leaving people under lockdown in their homes with a substance that is harmful both in terms of their health and the effects of their behavior on others, including violence,” Carina Ferreira-Borges, WHO Europe’s program manager for alcohol and illicit drugs, said in a statement.
Alcohol sales have skyrocketed by
