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According to a survey, up to 300,000 people in the UK may have quit smoking due to the coronavirus pandemic.
Smokers have been urged to quit with the secretary of state for health and social work, and Matt Hancock described it as “very clear” that smoking worsens the impact of the coronavirus.
Professor Chris Whitty, Chief Medical Adviser for the United Kingdom, added: “If you are going to quit smoking, this is a very good time to do it.”
Smokers appear to have heeded this advice with another 550,000 trying to quit and 2.4 million using this time to cut back, according to a study by YouGov and the campaign group Action on Smoking and Health (Ash).
The survey of just over 1,000 people found that 27% of people are now actively seeking to quit smoking as a result of the news that COVID-19 is worsening with smoking.
A quarter of previous smokers were also less likely to relapse after seeing the impact respiratory infection can have.
Despite this, 4% of people found that being quarantined made them consider going back to smoking, likely due to the additional pressures we are currently facing.
The Twitter campaign #QuitForCOVID released a joint statement from many of its anti-smoking and health organizations in light of the new data.
“Quitting smoking remains the most important thing people can do to improve their overall health,” said Dr. Charlie Kenward, Bristol GP, and also founder of the #QuitforCOVID campaign.
“It will improve heart and lung health, as well as reduce the chances of developing cancer and even improve wound healing after surgery.” There has never been a better time to quit smoking. ”
“Smoking damages the immune system and our ability to fight infection. Evidence is mounting that smoking is associated with worse outcomes for those admitted to the hospital with COVID-19. “Dr. Nick Hopkinson, president of Ash, who is also a respiratory specialist at Imperial College London, explained.
“Quitting smoking also quickly reduces other people’s risk of other health problems, such as heart attacks and strokes. Those are bad whenever they happen, so preventing them is an end in itself and especially important at a time like now, when everyone wants to stay out of the hospital. “
Even if smokers can only temporarily quit smoking while the pandemic continues, Deborah Arnott, Ash’s chief executive officer, described it as one of the “best things they could do right now.”
