Ban tobacco sales during this period - NATA

The Chairman of the National Authority on Tobacco and Alcohol Dr. Samadhi W. Rajapaksa has made a request from the Government to ban the sale of cigarettes during this period in order to assist the crusade against COVID-19.

 

According to Dr. Rajapaksa, a systemic review of evidence shows that based on limited data, smoking is most likely associated with the negative progression an adverse outcomes of COVID-19.

 

Dr. Rajapaksa pointed out that based on the largest study, the authors calculated that smokeRs were 1.4 times to have severe symptoms of COVID-19 and approximately 2.5 times more likely to be admitted to an intensive care unit (ICU), need mechanically ventilated or die compared to non smokers. 

 

Dr. Rajapaksa stated that the previous studies show that smokers are twice more likely than non smokers to contract influenza and have more severe symptoms while smokers were also noted to have higher mortality rates in the previous MERS-CoV outbreak.