Experts say smokers are more susceptible to infections and could suffer worse symptoms (Picture; Getty Images/EyeEM)

If you’ve been thinking about ditching the ciggies, now might be a good time to do it.

The Chief Medical Officer for England has warned smokers are at greater risk from coronavirus at a Commons Health and Social Care Committee meeting today.

Answering questions from MPs, Professor Chris Whitty said: ‘For most respiratory infections, you worry about people who smoke a bit more. They’re more likely to get it and their immune system is less good. If you are going to give up smoking, this is a very good moment to do it. But it’s not that I’m saying they should self-isolate or behave in any other way differently.’

It is not totally clear whether smoking specifically makes people more susceptible to the coronavirus strain named Covid-19, but experts say it generally damages the body’s ability to fight off infections.

Epidemiologist Saskia Popescu told Business Insider that anyone with a history of smoking ‘could increase the risk of more severe respiratory distress or pneumonia.’

The Australian National University’s (ANU) Professor Sanjaya Senanayake said smoking fuels other conditions that make the symptoms of Covid-19 worse.

He told Daily Mail Australia: ‘Smoking is associated with other illnesses such as chronic lung and chronic heart diseases which are associated with more severe disease and worse outcomes from coronavirus. It’s always a good time to quit smoking.’

A total of 92 people in the UK have been infected with the deadly airborne virus, which the Government has launched a ‘battle plan’ to combat.

It’s never a bad time to quit smoking (Picture: Getty Images/EyeEm)

Today Professor Whitty told MPs it is now ‘highly likely’ that there is ‘community transmission’ in Britain and said the fight against the bug has moved to the next phase.

He said the emphasis is now on reducing the speed at which it spreads, rather than trying to contain it.

Prof Whitty said there would be ‘some risk of transmission’ from touching hand rails and hard surfaces for up to 72 hours.

He added: ‘Just touching it will not give you the virus: it is if you touch it and then touch your face, having not washed your hands between them.

Chief Medical Officer for England and Government adviser Chris Whitty doesn’t think smokers should self-isolate or act any differently (Picture: REX)

‘So, if you go on to the Tube and touch the rail, that’s fine, but just be aware of what you do with your hands – don’t touch your face, wash your hands, and then you can do what you like.’

As the Sars-like bug has now infected more than 90,000 people across 73 countries around the world and has claimed more than 3,000 lives.

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