Smokers less likely to catch COVID-19?

[WorraLiberty]

Interesting link here from Sky News.

France are going to test nicotine patches on coronavirus patients and healthcare workers treating infected people, after initial studies suggested smokers were less likely to catch the disease.

I wonder if they turn out to be right?

There has been some research that smokers cope better with low oxygen at altitude (perhaps because their bodies have adapted to use less oxygen). The virus has been compared to trying to breathe at high altitude.

Smoking has been a convenient government scapegoat for society's ills for years - and its status as such is how they justify the enormous taxation of tobacco. I would be surprised if anyone in authority would ever acknowledge it might have some benefits - just as 'smoking related' is often used as a convenient label for deaths of people who happen to be smokers.

There's a widespread blindspot in society's ability to think critically about anti-smoking propaganda. Brainwashing from an early age has been very effective.