When smoking a cigarette, fingers are in contact with lips which increases the possibility of transmission of virus from hand to mouth. This makes smokers more vulnerable to COVID-19, and they need to be particularly careful, Health Minister Venko Filipce posted on Facebook.

In addition, he points out, smokers may already have lung disease or reduced lung capacity, which significantly increases the risk of serious illness.

Conditions that increase the need for oxygen or reduce the body’s ability to use oxygen, put patients at a higher risk of severe lung disease, including pneumonia, Filipce noted.