This advice from the UK is intended to help you understand your drinking levels and avoid any serious alcohol withdrawal symptoms, should you plan to reduce or stop your drinking in the current context of the COVID-19 pandemic. We want to help you cut back in a planned way in order to improve your health in the short and long term. It is important that you know that both the risks of continuing a high level of drinking and of harms from cutting back are higher, the more heavily you drink. If there are alcohol support services available and you are planning to reduce your drinking, you should use these, particularly if you are drinking over 30 units per day, which is around a bottle of spirits, 3 bottles of wine, 7 cans of strong lager (7.5% or more) or 4 litres of white cider. Withdrawal symptoms and complications are more likely at this very high level of consumption.

[Note, see also the HSE website: www.askaboutalcohol.ie]