Smoking doubles the risk of developing a severe case of coronavirus and needing hospitalisation, a new study claims.
The research provides the first conclusive evidence, based on real-world data, that being a smoker puts individuals at higher risk of severe disease than non-smokers.
It found smokers are 14 per cent more likely to have the three main symptoms of coronavirus: fever, persistent cough and shortness of breath.
But smokers are also at 50 per cent greater risk of developing more than ten symptoms at once — including cough, fever, loss of smell, loss of appetite, diarrhoea, fatigue, confusion or muscle pain — than people who do not smoke.