As long as we're pushing preferred narratives (in your case: public health measures = bad), maybe it's because hospitals and treatment rooms were full of unvaccinated individuals and people who declined to social-distance or wear masks, preventing alcoholics in distress from getting the acute treatments they need. Certainly a lot of cancer patients died that way[1][2][3][4][5].

I know a lot of people who took advantage of the pandemic to sort out their lives, including getting sober. Public health authorities from day 1 were taking into account the affects of lockdowns on mental health, thankfully following the evolving science instead of internet conspiracy theories.

[1] https://khn.org/news/article/covid-overwhelmed-hospitals-pos...

[2] https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2021/08/21/how-unvac...

[3] https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2020-12-20/covid-19...

[4] https://www.breastcancer.org/managing-life/staying-well-duri...

[5] https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2022-01-20/hospital...