Researchers in France are looking into testing nicotine patches on patients with coronavirus after a study found smokers may be at a lower risk of contracting the virus, reports the Guardian.

The study in question took place at a major hospital in Paris and suggests that the nicotine in tobacco may be stopping smokers from contracting coronavirus. 480 patients with the virus were questioned for the study, 350 of which were admitted to hospital. Of those 350 patients with an average age of 65 only 4.4 per cent were regular smokers. This number was much lower than that of the general population which was estimated at between 8.8 per cent and 11.3 per cent for the same age group, according the Guardian.
Renowned French neurobiologist Jean-Pierre Changeux reviewed the study and suggested the nicotine might stop the virus from reaching cells and spreading throughout the body.
The results of the study are now waiting to be verified in a clinical study which will see frontline health workers and patients with coronavirus given nicotine patches, reports the Guardian.
“Our cross-sectional study strongly suggests that those who smoke every day are much less likely to develop a symptomatic or severe infection with Sars-CoV-2 compared with the general population,” say the authors of the study.