The Royal College of Psychiatrists has published new analysis of Public Health England’s latest data on the indirect effects of coronavirus (COVID-19), which found that nearly 8.5 million adults are drinking at high risk, an increase from 4.8 million in February 2020. This comes at a time when the number of people seeking help for addiction to opiates was also at its highest level, in April 2020, since 2015. The college has claimed that addiction services are not equipped to deal with the post-pandemic surge following years of cuts, and that a multi-million pound funding package is required in the upcoming Comprehensive Spending Review. Psychiatrists are calling for a £374m investment into adult services in order to cope with the increase need for treatment.