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** 22 April 2020
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** International
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** USA: FDA says smokers may have higher risk of catching Covid-19 (#1)
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** South Africa: Tobacco lobby group preparing to challenge tobacco ban in court (#2)
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** International
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**

The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has made a second revision on its stance about the risks of Covid-19 and smoking, saying that cigarette smoking may also increase the chances of catching the disease.

“People who smoke cigarettes may be at increased risk of infection with the virus that causes Covid-19, and may have worse outcomes from Covid-19,” the agency said in an emailed response to a question from Bloomberg News.

Earlier this month, the FDA had said that smokers may have worse outcomes from Covid-19 but had not been explicit about whether that included their chances of catching the virus in the first place. In its March 27 statement on the risks, the FDA had said that smoking only posed a higher risk for the coronavirus in people who had underlying conditions.

The clarification comes as researchers and regulators race to study the new virus. There are nearly 2.5 million confirmed cases and more than 171,000 deaths worldwide from Covid-19. The world’s estimated 1.1 billion people who smoke and 41 million people who vape have so far gotten varying guidance on the virus’s potential threat from public health agencies. With a disease that has only been studied for a few months, regulators and researchers have looked to old data on how cigarette smoking affects those with the flu, bronchitis, and pneumonia.

Source: Bloomberg, 21 April 2020
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A tobacco lobby group representing southern African cigarette manufacturers is arguing that the ban on the sale of their product discussed as part of measures to contain coronavirus is “unconstitutional, unlawful and invalid”, and is preparing to challenge the prohibition in court.

In a letter from its lawyers to President Cyril Ramaphosa and five of his cabinet ministers, the Fair Trade Independent Tobacco Association (Fita) said that regulations, announced by the government, did not expressly ban the sale of cigarettes, and that the prohibition was just based on ministerial comments.

Just before the Covid-19 lockdown was implemented, trade & industry minister Ebrahim Patel said tobacco products would not be allowed to be sold as they were not essential goods. Health minister Zweli Mkhize has also said smoking and drinking alcohol hindered attempts to contain the coronavirus.

Fita wants President Ramaphosa and his ministers to explain how the ban on their products limits or delays the spread of the Covid-19 virus, and on what basis they contend that the regulations, properly interpreted, prohibited the sale of cigarettes and what is the specific source of the state’s power to ban it. It also asked whether the government has considered a limitation on the sale of cigarettes rather than imposing a total ban.

Source: BusinessDay, 21 April 2020
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ASH Daily News is a digest of published news on smoking-related topics. ASH is not responsible for the content of external websites. ASH does not necessarily endorse the material contained in this bulletin.

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