SMOKERS ‘80% MORE LIKELY TO BE HOSPITALISED WITH COVID’

SMOKERS are 80% more likely to be admitted to hospital and significantly more likely to die from Covid-19 than non-smokers, according to research.

The study, led by Oxford University, is the first of its kind to look at both observational and genetic data on smoking and coronavirus. Researchers looked at primary care records, Covid test results, hospital admissions data and death certificates.

Of the 421,469 people who took part in the research, 1,649 tested positive for Covid, 968 were admitted to hospital related to the virus and 444 people died with Covid-19. Most (59%) of the overall group had never smoked, over a third (37%) were former smokers and 4% were current smokers. Among current smokers, most (71%) were light or moderate smokers (one to 19 cigarettes per day) and 29% were heavy smokers (20 or more per day).

The results showed that, compared with never-smokers, current smokers had an 80% higher risk of hospital admission with Covid-19.

They were twice as likely to die if they smoked one to nine cigarettes a day, while those smoking 10 to 19 cigarettes a day were almost six times more likely to die. Among heavier smokers, people who smoked more than 20 a day were over six times more likely to die compared to people who had never smoked.