A warning for smokers, doctors say you are at a higher risk for getting the COVID-19 virus.

Dr. Sadaf Sohrab is a critical care and lung doctor at Mercy Hospital in Springfield. She says people who smoke or vape are at a higher risk of getting the virus.

"The studies that came out of China showed that the people who were more likely to die from COVID-19 were smokers," said Dr. Sohrab.

Dr. Sohrab says one of the reasons smokers are more likely to contract the virus because their hands are constantly touching their face and their mouth.

"We know this virus can be transmitted from surfaces. For example, if you are at Walmart and you touch a cart and it has the virus on it, it can live there for a couple of hours and then now it's on your hands. Once you have it on your hand, smokers and vapors touch their face multiple times a day for the act of smoking," said Dr. Sohrab.

Dr. Sohrab says once the virus enters a smoker's body it is more likely to cause an infection.

"And how it does that is because smokers and vapers have lower immunity in their lungs," said Dr. Sohrab.

Dr. Sohrab says people who smoke are also more likely to have a disease such as asthma or COPD, leaving people with underlying lung diseases to be more likely to get infections or die from respiratory complications from the virus.

She says right now is the perfect time to quit smoking

"Especially if you're focusing on your health and your focus is not to get sick, not to get this virus, and not to end up on in the ICU, and not to end up on a breathing machine," said Dr. Sohrab.

Dr. Sohrab says there are plenty of resources out there to help you kick your smoking habit.

"People can use nicotine patches. People can use nicotine gum. There are certain medications that the doctor can prescribe that can help you quit," said Dr. Sohrab.

Dr. Sohrab is also encouraging parents to be cautious and to make sure their kids are not vaping because they too are at higher risk of getting the virus along with the complications from the infection.