Smokers are at higher risk of Covid-19: Experts

Experts believe that smokers have higher chances of getting infected by chronic obstructive pulmonary disease as it causes airflow obstruction to the lungs inducing respiratory problems in the human body.

Calling it 'a high time' to stop smoking during a Facebook Live discussion program organised by Dhaka Ahsania Mission Health Sector, renowned physicians agreed that smokers are at higher risks, especially when the world is living the wrath of a global pandemic.     

The live discussion on "Smokers' health risk during Covid-19 and how to quit smoking during the pandemic" was held between Dr Abdus Samad, prominent ear, nose and throat specialist and head neck surgeon of Specialized ENT Hospital and a consultant at the Society for Assistance to Hearing Impaired Children, and Dr Kazi Saifuddin Bennor, a consultant (Pulmonologist) at the National Institute of Disease of the Chest Institute & Hospital and joint secretary of Bangladesh Lung Foundation.

Professor Dr Md. Abdus Samad said, "Smoking does not have any plus point. It is a slow poison, which kills gradually, unlike poison. Smoking also leads to other diseases, one of which is respiratory problems."

"Smoking creates infrastructural change in lungs which makes the vital organ of our body very weak and increases the chance of death," he added.

Dr Kazi Saifuddin Bennor said, "If a smoker gets affected from a covid-19 patient then his/her oxygen level drastically drops than a non- smoker which can cause him/her death."

He added, "If a coronavirus infected person spits the juice intake from betel leaf in a public place and a non-infected person comes in contact with the spitting and somehow it manages to reach their internal organs through his/her hands, then the person might get infected with coronavirus".