Thousands quit smoking in fear of coronavirus

More than 10,000 people or 15 per cent of the smokers in Finland have quitted smoking in fear of coronavirus infection, according to the report of a survey conducted by the tobacco policy and public health group ASH Finland published on Monday.

The survey results also showed that 11% of the smokers tried to quit smoking and 15% reduced the number of cigarettes in fear of catching coronavirus.

ASH Finland Chairman Professor Pekka Puska estimated that 5,000 to 18,000 people in Finland have quitted smoking directly due to health concerns related to coronavirus. The broad estimate was due to a relatively large margin of error.

About 65 per cent of the respondents showed the reason for quitting smoking as financial crisis while more than half of the respondents observed that smoking was a completely pointless habit.

ASH Finland said that about 10 per cent people of the country smoke tobacco, one per cent use electronic cigarettes and four per cent use the oral tobacco product snuff.

The survey was conducted by interviewing more than 2,300 people aged 18 to 79 years on 22 September to 24 September. The margin of error is 2.2 per cent in either direction.