Call for temporary ban on smoking areas

 The  Pan American Health Organization (PAHO)has recommended temporarily banning smoking areas.

According to the international body, smokers are more likely to develop severe symptoms in cases of Covid-19 , compared to non-smokers.

PAHO considers the coronavirus to be an infectious disease that mainly attacks the lungs and smoking impairs lung function, making it difficult for the body to fight this and other diseases.

“Smoking in public places entails, not only the exposure of third parties to tobacco smoke but also a series of habits that would not be very favorable for preventive health measures,” the report indicates.

In fact, this organism considers as a “potential risk” that infected smokers can expel virus-carrying microdroplets by not wearing masks, with the possibility of infecting the people around them.

He also recalled that certain devices used for smoking, such as water pipes, often involve the shared use of nozzles and hoses, which can facilitate the transmission of Covid-19 in community and social settings.

One of the main conclusions of PAHO is that in addition to representing a threat to the health of passive smokers, designated smoking areas in public places such as restaurants, hotels, airports, and other establishments, can become critical points, putting in Public health risk now when talking about a possible third wave of the virus.

On this issue, the pulmonologist Fernando Márquez stressed that, as specialists, they will always advocate that their patients do not smoke and much more in scenarios like this, in which the virus attacks the lungs.

“Smoking produces an inflammatory reaction in the bronchi and that can be aggravated by Covid-19,” explained Márquez, adding that smoking patients who develop emphysema (damage to the lungs) and who carry the virus are more likely to die than those non-smokers.

 d much more in scenarios like this, in which the virus attacks the lungs.

“Smoking produces an inflammatory reaction in the bronchi and that can be aggravated by Covid-19,” explained Márquez, adding that smoking patients who develop emphysema (damage to the lungs) and who carry the virus are more likely to die than those non-smokers.

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