Cigarette smoking is known to be conducive to a plethora of respiratory conditions, cancers and other diseases. To this effect, as COVID-19 started spreading, health authorities naturally assumed that smokers were at a higher risk of contracting the virus, and that if they did, they would exhibit harsher symptoms than the majority. However new research has emerged to show that this may not be the case.

A recent study conducted in a large French university hospital, between March and April, aimed to determine the possible correlation of daily smoking, with the susceptibility of contracting the SARS-CoV-2 infection.

The compiled data indicated that the daily smokers rate amongst COVID-19 patients was at 5.3%, whilst amongst the French population, the daily smokers rate was at 25.4%. These findings led the researchers to conclude that daily smokers have a significantly lower probability of developing symptomatic or a severe SARS-CoV-2 infection, when compared to the general population.

Bongani joined by Dr. Konstantinos Farsalinos, renowned cardiologist, and anti-smoking researcher.