Abu Dhabi: With the number of COVID-19 cases on the rise, doctors have once again advised residents to avoid smoking both at outdoor and indoor public spaces in order to reduce the spread of the coronavirus.
While cigarette smoke hasn’t conclusively been proven to transmit the virus, experts warn that the need to lower the face mask when smoking could allow smokers who may be unknowingly infected to spread the virus. In addition, vapers who are smoking could be up to 20 per cent more likely to transmit the virus by spreading it in clouds of smoke, according to researchers in Italy, Mexico and New Zealand. Shisha or water pipe smokers, on the other hand, also face heightened risk of contracting COVID-19, especially when smoking in shisha parlours.