Can nicotine prevent Coronavirus?

According to researchers in France, nicotine may protect people from contracting coronavirus. Researchers at a hospital in Paris examined 343 COVID19 patients in critical condition along with 139 infected with milder symptoms. “Among these patients, only five percent were smokers”, said Zahir Amoura, the study’s co-author and a professor of internal medicine. This is impressive considering 35 percent of people in France smoke. These results are similar to a study from the New England Journal of Medicine that suggested 12.6 percent of 1000 COVID19 cases were smokers. Although this may seem like a large number, the number of smokers in China is 26 percent, making this number significantly lower.

The theory is that nicotine is adhering to cell receptors and blocking the virus from entering/spreading through the body. This is a very new theory and has not been confirmed by health professionals, but if health authorities give approval, France will carry our more clinical trials.

This shows how doctors and researchers are trying their hardest to help those suffering from coronavirus but are lacking many other leads because they are using a harmful substance that has been proven to be unsafe. It would be very interesting if nicotine really did prevent coronavirus and smokers were actually helping themselves from contracting the virus unintentionally.
Sources:
https://www.france24.com/en/20200423-france-testing-whether-nicotine-could-prevent-coronavirus-1