In their letter to the Editor, “Active smoking is not associated with severity of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19)”, Lippi et al. [1] present a timely and important meta-analysis to evaluate if smokers are at greater risk of increased severity of COVID-19 symptoms. This is the first study to assess this question and has important implications for clinical practice and public health recommendations. It is indeed imperative at this time to identify if and how smoking habits can contribute to the progression of COVID-19 and its ensuing complications, such as hospitalisation, admission to an intensive care unit, and ultimately death.
