The coronavirus has affected more than four million people around the globe, yet, there is a massive amount of knowledge we do not have about the virus as of now. Lifestyle choices, such as smoking have always been a question before for the effects that it has on your health, however, smokers across the world have been conflicted as to whether the mere act of smoking can increase the chances of getting the coronavirus.
The World Health Organization (WHO) had earlier announced that there is no evidence to indicate that smoking can cause the dreaded COVID-19. However, the WHO added that tobacco smokers use cigarettes, water pipes, bidis, cigars which may make them more vulnerable to contracting the coronavirus. The act of smoking further involves the contact of fingers with possibly contaminated cigarettes. As a consequence, this increases the possibility of transmission of viruses from hand to mouth. Smoking water pipes, also known as shisha or hookah, often involves the sharing of mouthpieces and hoses, which could facilitate the transmission of the COVID-19 virus in social situations.
The WHO has also said that as smoking essentially affects the lungs and so does the coronavirus, quitting smoking all together could prove to be beneficial in the long run. Pre-existing conditions also make you susceptible to the coronavirus. So it is impertinent that we realize that the focus should be on our immunity at this point.
However, certain individuals have claimed that smokers actually have a low risk of catching COVID-19. Currently, there is insufficient data to assert any link between tobacco or nicotine in the prevention or treatment of COVID-19. WHO urges researchers, scientists and the media to be cautious about amplifying unproven claims that tobacco or nicotine could reduce the risk of COVID-19. WHO is constantly evaluating new research, including that which examines the link between tobacco use, nicotine use, and COVID-19. Therefore, if any such assessment is found to be true, it would be a noted fact.
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