TY - JOUR T1 - COVID-19: Risk of increase in smoking rates among England’s 6 million smokers and relapse among England’s 11 million ex-smokers JF - BJGP Open JO - BJGP Open DO - 10.3399/bjgpopen20X101067 SP - bjgpopen20X101067 AU - Pooja Patwardhan Y1 - 2020/04/08 UR - http://bjgpopen.org/content/early/2020/04/07/bjgpopen20X101067.abstract N2 - As a practising GP, I am concerned about those who might get seriously unwell due to the respiratory virus SARS-CoV-2. As a member of the Royal College of General Practitioners (RCGP), I join hands with the public health and other healthcare communities to focus on acute measures in this time of national emergency to save lives from COVID-19. At the same time, I am also worried about those who may not currently be in the high-risk group for COVID-19 but will be self-isolating and maintaining social distance. As the world goes into lockdown, social distancing and self-isolation are likely to make the society very lonely and life more stressful.We are already seeing patients in general practice who are understandably stressed in these extra-ordinary circumstances. With my experience of working in preventive medicine and smoking cessation, the uncertainty and the stress might push current smokers to smoke more cigarettes and ex-smokers to relapse back to smoking.There are many people really worried about the health of their ageing parents whom they cannot now visit, about the financial and health impact COVID-19 will have on their lives, and about all the other uncertainties around it. Staying at home, people are listening to all sorts of news — some true, some rumours — about what the future might have in store for them. The feeling of helplessness will be … ER -