PUTRAJAYA: Death rate among smokers infected by Covid-19 is a cause for concern.
Health director-general Datuk Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah said based on study conducted by the Health Ministry on smoking history and risk of non-communicable diseases on 86 patients who died from the coronavirus, it was found that 19.8 per cent or 17 were smokers.
"The same analysis also found that death due to Covid-19 among those without any chronic illness but had a history of smoking stood at 17.6 per cent, compared to 12.1 per cent for non-smokers," he told a daily press conference today.
Dr Noor Hisham added that smoking habit has led to various diseases and also weakens the human immune system, subsequently increasing the risk of bacterial and virus infections especially during the Covid-19 outbreak.
"Covid-19 is a contagious disease that attacks the lungs and smoking impairs the lung function, hence making one's body resistant to Coronavirus or other diseases."
He said based on the National Health and Morbidity Survey (NHMS) released on May 29, it revealed that the prevalence of Malaysians with high blood pressure stood at 30 percent and diabetes at 18.3 percent.
"These people are at risk of developing serious complications if they are infected with Covid-19 and could get worse for smokers," he said.