One assumption about COVID-19 that’s been accepted as so obvious it needn’t be supported with data is that smoking heightens the risk of infection, hospitalization, and death.

Cigarettes are one of the most lethal products on the market. Their hazards are so various and well-known that it seems intuitive that smokers would be at severe risk for the coronavirus. In March, New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio asserted that smokers and vapers are more vulnerable to COVID-19. In a television appearance, the surgeon general speculated that vaping could be the reason why more young people were hospitalized in New York than anticipated.