More than 300,000 Britons have quit smoking due to COVID-19 fears. This is despite conflicting evidence that nicotine could protect against the coronavirus. A survey shows that Britons are abandoning smoking in their thousands during the coronavirus lockdown. Out of a total of 1,004 people interviewed, two per cent of smokers say they have given up the habit. Further, more than half a million (8 percent) of smokers, have tried to curb the addiction, 2.4 million (36 percent) have cut down, and 27 per cent said they were now more likely to quit. Meanwhile, 25 percent of ex-smokers said they were unlikely to begin smoking again, although 4 percent did say the stress of the pandemic had made them more prone to relapse. YouGov, who held the survey said smokers concerns that they would be at increased risk of suffering severe COVID-19 symptoms may have been the motivating factor in quitting or cutting down.

Without a doubt, smoking is a detrimental habit, with many possible severe associated illnesses, such as cancer and emphysema, and is frowned upon in Islam. While the lung-health of smokers is overall worse off than that of non-smokers, scientists are divided on whether smoking is an advantage or a drawback, in confronting coronavirus. Some studies have suggested that fewer smokers are catching the virus, but others indicate that those who do catch it suffer more severe symptoms.

A review of 28 studies by the University College of London found the proportions of smokers among coronavirus infected hospital patients were ‘lower than expected’. The studies were conducted in China, the US, South Korea, France, and one was an international study using mostly data from the UK.

One study showed that in the UK the proportion of smokers among COVID-19 patients was just five per cent. Data from multiple Chinese studies suggests smokers are less likely to end up in hospital. It found there was a smaller proportion of smokers than the general population in COVID-19 hospital patients. Another study, by America’s Centres for Disease Control of over 7,000 people who tested positive for coronavirus, found that just 1.3 per cent of them were smokers. The study found smokers do not stand a greater chance than non-smokers of ending up in hospital or an ICU.

Scientists find smokers possibly having a lower risk of becoming hospitalised with COVID-19 as ‘bizarre’.  Researchers, however, acknowledge that the link between smoking and coronavirus patients may be skewed due to only partial knowledge of the person’s lifestyle, as hospitals are too busy during this crisis to keep proper records.

Health officials are confounded in countering growing evidence implying a protective effect given by cigarettes. French researchers are set to experiment with nicotine patches as a treatment for some coronavirus patients in Paris. The theory is that nicotine prevents an infected persons immune system from going into overdrive, in a possibly fatal cytokine storm, as has been seen with covid 19, and other respiratory diseases.

Umm Muhammed Umar