It’s probably no surprise that Australians are drinking more during the pandemic. What you may not know is that alcohol could decrease your capacity to deal with Covid-19.
The last thing you want to do right now is compromise your immune system. Research shows that is exactly what alcohol does.“The more you drink, the greater the risk, in particular to your respiratory functioning,” says Professor Steve Allsop, from the National Drug Research Institute at Curtin University.

“There’s good research that shows heavy drinkers are much more likely to get influenza and pneumonia and much more likely to experience more severe consequences. Heavy drinkers aremuch more likely to die from pneumonia than people who don’t drink.”

It’s not just heavy drinkers putting themselves at risk; research suggests binge drinking can also affect the immune system.

“We exhale alcohol through our breath, and there’s some emerging evidence that it could have a negative impact on your cilia [the fine hairs lining the cells in your airway that propel inhaled toxins and debris out of the lungs],” Professor Allsop says.

“It may affect the ability of your respiratory system to protect itself from pathogens and to expel those pathogens. You need to be aware of that.”