New Delhi (NVI): Smokers and tobacco users are at higher risk of COVID-19 infection, according to the World Health Organisation.
WHO says that smoking means that fingers (and possibly contaminated cigarettes) are in contact with lips which increases the possibility of transmission of the virus from hand to mouth.
So if you smoke, then you are more vulnerable to the coronavirus infection, as compared to a non-smoker.
“Quit smoking for a better health!!,” WHO tweeted while suggesting that the current COVID-19 situation across the world would be a good time to try and quit smoking or at least cut down on it.
Smokers may also already have lung disease or reduced lung capacity which would greatly increase the risk of serious illness, according to the global health body.
Apart from cigarettes, smoking products such as water pipes often involve the sharing of mouth pieces and hoses, which could facilitate the transmission of COVID-19 in communal and social settings, says WHO.
The report further states that conditions that increase oxygen needs or reduce the ability of the body to use it properly will put patients at higher risk of serious lung conditions such as pneumonia.
Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, Director-General of the World Health Organization (WHO), also took to Twitter on March 21 and urged people to stop smoking as “it can increase the risk of developing severe disease, if one becomes infected with COVID-19”.
