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Health CAS Dr Rashid Aman on Tuesday issued a warning to smokers saying they are at risk of contracting Covid-19 due to compromised respiratory systems. Speaking during the daily COVID briefing, Dr Aman said smoking any kind of tobacco reduces lung capacity and can increase severity of respiratory diseases.
“The act of smoking and the social nature of many forms of tobacco use present risks of person to person transmission of respiratory viruses such as the SARS-CoV-2 that causes Covid-19.
“All forms of tobacco are harmful and there is no safe level of exposure. Often users of these other forms of tobacco do not understand or appreciate the health dangers. Tobacco used by sniffing, chewing or placing between the gum and cheek or lip equally increases the risk of severe disease when one is infected by Covid-19,” said the CAS.
Also read: WHO casts doubt on flattening curve claim
He added that infection can be spread through product handling, frequent spitting and sharing of paraphernalia. “Smokers often have a persistent cough and infected COVID-19 smokers who are not symptomatic could be a spread of infection.”
This comes as the country announced 114 new cases, bringing the national tally to 34,315. On a positive note, 318 patients recovered from the disease and the total number of recoveries now stands at 20,211. No death was reported in the last 24hours.
Elsewhere, the World Health Organisation (WHO) has cast doubts that Kenya’s reducing Covid-19 cases is a sign the pandemic is on the decline. WHO noted that the disease is behaving abnormally epidemiologically compared to how a pandemic normally would.
Also read: What you need to know about coronavirus
It said there is no enough data to ascertain the claim of a flattening curve even as President Uhuru Kenyatta held onto this narrative as he delivered his remarks yesterday during a virtual conference on the pandemic. This skepticism seems to put to question the modelling used to determine the curve the disease will take in the country, which indicated that the pandemic will be at its peak around late August and early September.
