No ifs or butts about it, Covid stress has driven many back to smoking While SA saw a dip in smoking during the ban, there has also been a drop in the number of people wanting to quit 18 April 2021 - 18:24 Increased stress and anxiety during the Covid-19 pandemic may have pushed smokers to either smoke more or sway those trying quit back into smoking – raising fears of Covid-19 complications among this high-risk group should they contract the virus. An editorial in the Lancet Respiratory Medicine journal has pointed out the evidence that suggests fewer smokers are quitting. The article raised concerns about the drop of calls to national quit-smoking lines, particularly in 2020 – the year many parts of the world were engulfed by lockdowns and growing stress levels...