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[Trekkin]

Hmm. Does this mean it's also more likely to be caught by smokers?

We don't yet have the data on asymptomatic infections to say that with any certainty, I'm afraid. It's certainly plausible, but it would be a disservice to tout anything as protective right now.

[Stench Guzman]

The smog is so bad in China everyone is effectively smoking a pack a day.  Also, per capita the Chinese smoke more than most other countries.

[Reelya]

Hmm. Does this mean it's also more likely to be caught by smokers?

We don't yet have the data on asymptomatic infections to say that with any certainty, I'm afraid. It's certainly plausible, but it would be a disservice to tout anything as protective right now.

They are already recommending to quit smoking though. The strategy is delay and containment, so the argument is that if they delay the spread to North America for 2-3 months and you quit smoking now, then by the time the virus is loose in the USA then you should have much lower chance of mortality. Whichever way it plays out "quit smoking now" will reduce your mortality rate, whether that's from the coronavirus, from influenza or just from the smoking itself. Eve if it's not relevant, if the fear of coronavirus can be used to give some smokers a kick up the backside to quit then lives have been saved, perhaps more lives than the virus would have taken.

[Il Palazzo]

Won't anybody think about the tobacco companies?

[Trekkin]

They are already recommending to quit smoking though. The strategy is delay and containment, so the argument is that if they delay the spread to North America for 2-3 months and you quit smoking now, then by the time the virus is loose in the USA then you should have much lower chance of mortality.

And then people hear this and figure they can ignore quarantines and public health instructions because their second cousin's roommate's drug dealer works down the street from a doctor's office and he said it mostly only kills smokers. "Much lower chance of mortality" is exactly the kind of hedge you don't want, because people will assume it means whatever they want it to mean. And then, when they get sick anyway, they'll ignore medical experts the next time around and listen to whatever Internet armchair expert tells them to chug bleach and pray to crystals. Public resistance gets much worse if you try to use medical emergencies as a vector for social engineering, too.

[Stench Guzman]

I've received almost no spam phone calls in the past week.  I wonder if everyone at those Chinese run boiler rooms is out sick.

[coalboat]

Hi Guzman, you are also in China?

[Stench Guzman]

No.  Stateside.

[coalboat]

I didn't know Chinese spam call reaches that far. Do they speak english or just software playing audio?

[TamerVirus]

I get those calls at work. It’s robo-audio usually telling me I got a package at the Chinese embassy or something asinine like that

[coalboat]

Impressive! In China those calls are mostly from telemarketeers of loan company.

[Frumple]

Stateside those usually don't actually have much indication of being from china, anyway. Package nonsense is pretty consistently the whole "give me money so I can (not) get it to you" horseshit _{also if you do shell out money you can expect your "package" to be fucking incessant calls about new complications you need to send money about.} Embassy stuff is just one of the permutations, and generally has sod all to do with country of scam origin. Those scumshit fucks are sadly not stupid enough to legitimately peg some kind of potential physical trace point like that

[Iduno]

Medical work is a stressful job and smoking takes the edge off...

And stress is known to be good for your health to start with. /s

[ChairmanPoo]

Smoking causes significantly higher gene expression of a receptor that's targeted by coronaviruses, including the latest one and including SARS. So the question of "Why China?" for these types of viruses could be partly because these types of viruses target a receptor that you get more of if you're a heavy smoker. I'm willing to bet the few men in their 30s who have died of this also happened to be heavy smokers.

Hmm. Does this mean it's also more likely to be caught by smokers?

This also makes some sense with the medical staff in Wuhan's high infection rate. Medical work is a stressful job and smoking takes the edge off...

I'm not convinced that it makes sense.

[TamerVirus]

China approved of an anti-viral drug to combat Sars 2.
...Its called Fapilavir...
Reality is one big joke, isn't it