Lee doctor Jimmy Mohamed replied on Friday to a listener who wondered if cigarette smoke was likely to transport the coronavirus. According to the National Committee against smoking, infected smokers are indeed potentially major contaminators around them.

Is cigarette smoke (and electronic cigarettes) likely to carry the coronavirus? In fact, the National Committee against Smoking (CNCT) affirmed that smoke seemed to be a vector of the coronavirus. "Smokers infected with coronavirus are potentially major contaminants of their entourage through passive smoking, because of their frequent cough and the presence in tobacco smoke of particles on which attach the viruses which can then be inhaled by the entourage, writes the committee on its website.

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Safety distance of ten meters

As Doctor Jimmy Mohamed specifies, the CNCT also considers that the smoke that we are going to deposit on objects could contaminate other people. We should therefore either stop smoking or respect a social distance of ten meters between two smokers, as the committee indicated in its press release. "The clouds of smoke and vaping produced are detected up to ten meters around the user. As soon as these clouds are potentially contagious, such a safe distance must be respected." A measure that concerns both the classic cigarette and the electronic cigarette.

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Contaminating droplets

Furthermore, simply speaking out loud can generate contaminating droplets, a parameter reminiscent of the need to wear a mask, or better: to stop smoking. In this perspective, Professor Yves Martinet, president of the National Committee Against Smoking launched an appeal to the vigilance of smokers, encouraging them to pass the course of stopping smoking. "Quitting smoking is not easy," he admits. "To get help, call Tabac-Info-Service at 3989 or contact your doctor, pharmacist or addictologist."

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