Public Health England changes its tone on smoking and Covid-19
Friday, May 29, 2020 at 12:02 Public Health England has just published what it calls ‘guidance’ for smokers and vapers.
I urge you to read it because the tone is noticeably different from the ‘story’ the under fire quango published on April 3.
Headlined ‘Smokers at greater risk of severe respiratory disease from Covid-19’, PHE declared that:
Emerging evidence from China shows smokers with Covid-19 are 14 times more likely to develop severe respiratory disease.
Now, eight weeks later, PHE says:
The evidence on smoking and coronavirus (Covid-19) is mixed and developing.
You can say that again, but it’s nice to hear PHE admit that the evidence is not as definitive as it made out before multiple studies suggested that “something weird” is going on.
‘On the available evidence,’ PHE now advise:
- if you smoke, you generally have an increased risk of contracting respiratory infection and of more severe symptoms once infected. Covid-19 symptoms may, therefore, be more severe if you smoke.
That, if I may say so, is a huge shift in tone. In fact, it’s as near an admission that PHE got it wrong on April 3 that we are likely to get. (That ‘story’ is still online, though, even though the study on which it was based used a sample of just 78 patients, only five of whom were or are smokers.)
Health Secretary Matt Hancock might also come to rue the ridiculously assertive statement he made in March when, prompted by Bob Blackman, chairman of the APPG on Smoking and Health, he declared with remarkable confidence, “It is abundantly clear that smoking makes the impact of a coronavirus worse."
Now that “abundantly clear” has been downgraded to “may”, let’s hope we hear rather less on the subject from anti-smoking campaigners and politicians.
Reader Comments (7)
The only change on tone that I am hearing from PHE's anti smoker wing is hissing through gritted teeth. 😂
As you say, Simon, this really is a major back-pedal from PHE. It may not sound like one, after all, it’s not exactly: “OK, we hold up our hands. We were wrong” but from a group of people who are, to a man, swivel-eyed, spittle-flecked, anti-smoking zealots of the first order, it’s a huge change in stance. God, it must have hurt for them to admit this! Isn’t it nice to see one’s foes desperately struggling to talk themselves out of a corner they’ve manoeuvred themselves into when their manipulative fibs come back to bite them, and the harsh truth of reality meets them eyeball to eyeball? Ha!
About 6 weeks ago I put in a FOI request to see why PHE had decided to publicise that ‘14x’ study, and to see what other info they had considered. Did another one asking for the evidence behind Hancock’s remarks. No answers yet ...
It appeared on the daily gov email this morning ( Sat ) Complete with a link to Smokefree and advice to use NRT which I believe hospitals should give to smokers who need nicotine while fighting the virus as well.
Looking forward to reading the replies, Jon!
"if you smoke, you generally have an increased risk of contracting respiratory infection"
Not in my experience.
I'd like to read the studies that prove that conclusively, though I know that it's one of their core beliefs.
Do any of the other nicotine and solanesol containing vegetables increase the risk of respiratory infection if you boil, fry or roast them?
Sadly I know someone who passed away from (Covid19,) and couple of my friends got (Covid19 ), fortunately now recovered, non of them smoked. Nobody knows if smoking makes this worse. I did read in France medical staff where given nicotine patch's . Need I say more.