File photo dated August 27, 2010 of cigarettes in an ashtray. A French study found that only 4.4% of 350 coronavirus patients hospitalized were regular smokers and 5.3% of 130 homebound patients smoked. This pales in comparison with at least 25% of the French population that smokes. Researchers theorized nicotine could prevent the virus from infecting cells or that nicotine was preventing the immune system from overreacting to the virus. To test this theory, hospitalized coronavirus patients, intensive care patients and frontline workers nicotine patches. Photo by ANDBZ/ABACAPRESS.COM
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