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Western Australia Introduces Restrictions On How Much Alcohol You Can Buy

Western Australia Introduces Restrictions On How Much Alcohol You Can Buy

People can buy one case of beer, cider or pre-mixed spirits; three bottles of wine; one litre of spirits; or one litre of fortified wine.

Stewart Perrie

Stewart Perrie

Western Australia has introduced rules on how much alcohol citizens can buy amid the coronavirus pandemic.

The restrictions hope to prevent panic buying during the outbreak of Covid-19.

According to AAP, people in WA will now be limited to either one case of beer, cider or pre-mixed spirits; three bottles of wine; one litre of spirits; one litre of fortified wine; or a combination of any two but not of the same product.

When the Prime Minister announced that some non-essential services would close to prevent the spread of the virus, many flocked to bottle shops because they were worried the stores would have to close.

@l_n_k13/Twitter

Pictures were uploaded to social media showing queues of people standing at bottlos, hoping to have as much grog as possible during self-isolation.

But the new rules will prevent these scenes from repeating themselves.

Premier Mark McGowan said: "They are relatively minor, sensible measures.

"Alcohol-related issues take up an enormous amount of resources in our health system. These are resources we simply cannot afford to spare during the COVID-19 situation.

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"We expect our hospital system to be under pressure in coming weeks, and we need as many hospital staff as possible on hand to assist."

Mr McGowan said he was dismayed at seeing so many people flocking to bottle shops at the faintest mention of restricting social gatherings.

"This only will result in problems throughout our society that we cannot afford right now," he said.

"These are problems that will stretch our police force and only put more pressure on our hospital system."

The measures will be reviewed after two weeks to see if they've made any difference.

Featured Image Credit: David Miller (Creative Commons)

Topics: News, Australia