David Hockney accuses newspaper of censorship for refusing to publish his letter saying smoking could fight coronavirus
David Hockney has ignited a row about whether smoking could protect people from coronavirus.
The artist is currently living in his home in Normandy where he has been painting a series of epic works – including a remarkable animation – depicting the transformation of his garden from winter to spring.
But he has become embroiled in a row with The Guardian newspaper after he claims it refused to publish a letter he wrote setting out his argument in favour of smoking.
In the letter Hockney wrote: 'Now we have Covid-19, and surprise, surprise, a lot of reports are coming out saying that smokers rarely get it. Could there be something in this?'
After the newspaper failed to run the letter, the 82-year-old artist branded it 'cowardly' and claimed it 'cannot face' aspects of his argument. He added: 'It's shocking that their agenda doesn't allow them to engage in open debate on this.'
Mounting evidence is growing to suggest smokers may be at lower risk of COVID-19, with studies from across the world uncovering the bizarre link, which scientists have described as 'weird'.
Hockney pointed out that Greece has seen one of the lowest coronavirus death rates in Europe despite having an above average number of smokers.
David Hockney (pictured) has ignited a row about whether smoking could protect people from coronavirus
The artist is currently living in his home in Normandy where he has been painting a series of epic works – including a remarkable animation – depicting the transformation of his garden from winter to spring
In his first ever Zoom interview, Hockney spoke exclusively to Mail+ to discuss his views on smoking and his controversial belief that it 'might save your life'.
In the discussion with Daily Mail Editor Geordie Greig he also opened up about his 'marvellous' time in lockdown creating an extraordinary new painting with movement – which can be seen for the first time on Mail+.
The incredible artwork, which sits alongside his spring series, was completed on an iPad across a number of months and captures a cherry blossom tree transitioning from winter to spring in his three-acre garden.
In the discussion with Daily Mail Editor Geordie Greig he also opened up about his 'marvellous' time in lockdown creating an extraordinary new painting with movement
He created an image a day on his iPad, with some taking no longer than 25 minutes while others saw him work into the night.
He hopes around 100 of the spring paintings will be exhibited at some point next year in a chronological line allowing a 'spring happening' narrative.
Hockney's theory that smoking could prevent coronavirus has split opinion. Previously, Health Secretary Matt Hancock said: 'It is abundantly clear ... that smoking makes the impact of a coronavirus worse.' And England's Chief Medical Officer Professor Chris Whitty advised: 'If you are going to give up smoking, this is a very good moment to do it.'
The incredible art work, which sits alongside his spring series, was completed on an iPad across a number of months and captures a cherry blossom tree transitioning from winter to spring in his three-acre garden
But scientists at Paris hospital Pitie-Salpetriere said they were going to give nicotine patches to key workers to test the theory after a small study showed the proportion of infected smokers is much lower than in others.
Last night a Guardian News & Media spokesman said: 'We receive hundreds of letters a day and cannot publish them all. However, we are not aware of recently receiving a letter from David Hockney.'
He created an image a day on his iPad, with some taking no longer than 25 minutes while others saw him work into the night
He hopes around 100 of the spring paintings will be exhibited at some point next year in a chronological line allowing a 'spring happening' narrative
Pictured is the final image of the sequence which depicts the transformation of a tree from from winter to spring
Researchers have uncovered more evidence that smokers may be protected from the deadly coronavirus. Less than five per cent of 441 hospitalised COVID-19 patients in an Italian study were smokers - compared with 24 per cent in the population
More smokers succumbed to the disease - almost half compared to 35 per cent of those who had never touched a cigarette
Non-smokers made up 85 per cent of victims, smokers 6 per cent and ex-smokers 9 per cent - which was not significantly different to the total cohort. However, active smokers had a 50/50 chance of survival once hospitalised - 47 per cent of those admitted died. In comparison, just over a third of non-smokers died
University of College London reviewed 28 studies and found smoking rates were lower than expected among COVID-19 patients. The graph shows the smoking rate of each country against the percentage of smokers among COVID-19 patients. The lowest figure has been chosen for each country to show the stark comparison discovered by some studies
Data from the US suggests that smokers appear to be less likely to test positive for SARS-CoV-2 compared with never smokers. But the researchers noted that smokers were more likely to be tested - possibly because their symptoms are more obvious
Three studies looked at hospitalisation for COVID-19 by smoking status. An analysis of two of these studies provided zero evidence that the 657 current or former smokers with the virus were at a higher risk of ending up in hospital
Among 1,370 people hospitalised across two other studies, smokers were 43 per cent more likely to see their disease progress than those who had never smoked
Three studies reported death rates from COVID-19 but there 'did not appear to be a notable difference' between smokers and non-smokers
The first review of evidence on smoking was conducted in March, when there were very few studies: Studies from China found that the average proportion of coronavirus patients who were classed as smokers - from a total of almost 6,000 people - was just 6.5 per cent
Dr Constantine Vardavas came to the conclusion that smokers do face a greater risk of suffering complications - but are less likely to be infected in the first place: A large study published in the New England Journal of Medicine found that of 173 patients who had severe symptoms, 16.9 per cent of them were current smokers and 5.2 per cent had previously smoked. In comparison, of the patients with less-severe symptoms, 11.8 per cent were current smokers and 1.3 per cent were former smokers
Researchers at the Zhongnan Hospital of Wuhan University made the conclusion that only 1.4 per cent of 140 hospitalised patients were smokers
A study of 41 patients found that none of the 13 patients who needed to be admitted to ICU were current smokers. In contrast, 11 per cent (three) of those who did not need intensive care were smokers
One study of 140 coronavirus patients found that among the 58 patients who severely ill, 3.4 per cent (two people) were current smokers and 6.9 per cent (four) were former smokers. In comparison, of the 82 with milder symptoms, none were current smokers and 3.7 per cent (three) were former smoker
Britain used to be a tolerant country. That's gone up in smoke
WHAT IS AN ACE-2 RECEPTOR AND WHAT DOES IT HAVE TO DO WITH COVID-19?
ACE-2 receptors are structures found on the surface of cells in the lungs and airways which work with an enyzme called ACE (angiotensin-converting enzyme) to regulate blood pressure.
Its exact function in the lungs is not well understood but studies suggest it is protective against lung damage and low levels of it can worsen the impact of viral infections.
Scientists say that the coronavirus which causes COVID-19 enters the body through the ACE-2 receptor, which the shape of it allows it to latch on to.
This means that someone with more ACE-2 receptors may be more susceptible to a large viral load - first infectious dose of a virus - entering their bloodstream.
ACE-2 receptors have a shape which matches the outside of the coronavirus, effectively providing it with a doorway into the bloodstream, scientists say
People who have higher than usual numbers of ACE-2 receptors may include those with diabetes or high blood pressure because they have genetic defects which make them produce more. Emerging evidence shows that smokers may also produce more.
High levels of ACE-2 receptors may also be protective, however.
They are thought to be able to protect the lungs during infection and a study on mice in 2008 found that mice which had ACE-2 blocked in their bodies suffered more damage when they were infected with SARS, which is almost identical to COVID-19.
Smoking has in the past been repeatedly linked to lower than normal levels of ACE-2 receptors, potentially increasing the risk of lung damage from COVID-19.
Commentary by David Hockney
At the moment I am living in a very nice three-bedroomed house in Normandy where I am spending lockdown with my assistant, Jean Pierre Goncalves de Lima, who I love dearly, and with my technical assistant Jonathan Wilkinson. We all have one thing in common. I still smoke, so does JP and Jonathan does occasionally.
For at least the last 20 years I have been writing letters to The Guardian on this subject, defending my habit. Some would say 'addiction', but I am addicted to quite a few other things, certainly drawing and reading for a start.
I have smoked since I was 16 (five Woodbines for 9d) and the only time I gave up for a while was in 1969 because the person I lived with then didn't like it. That means I have smoked for 66 years.
My father, a rabid anti-smoker, died at 75 because he ate too many chocolate biscuits. He would walk up the street, buy a packet and eat them all in the park because he was diabetic and couldn't do it at home. He went into four comas, the last one killing him with a heart attack. He was quite irrational.
And me? I will be 83 in two months. I walk a bit slower, rarely exercise and have never been to a gym in my life, but I am very active and have already made 85 iPad drawings depicting the arrival of spring in our large garden. Now we have Covid-19, and surprise, surprise, a lot of reports are coming out saying that smokers rarely get it. Could there be something in this?
Well, the only time I had the flu was 1969, the year I didn't smoke. I thought I was dying and I was in bed for a week in New York. I suspect the leader of Action on Smoking and Health (ASH) may have something to say about all this. I do not know her but I expect she is a mean-spirited bossy-boots obsessed with death. There are lots of them in England and they seem to be running everything today.
Now I know there are a lot of people who don't like smoking, but a lot of people still do. Smoking has now become the cause of every known ailment, at least according to the packets. I don't believe it. How can I, when I have lived in smoke for so long?
I don't suppose non-smokers even know what has happened to the cigarette packets. They no longer just say 'cigarettes kill' (my reply to that is that life is a killer – we are all one day nearer oblivion than we were yesterday). Today they also put horrific images on them.
Some of them are just plainly ridiculous. A picture of a man in a hospital bed with his wife and children round him is suggesting surely that sorrow and grief would disappear if only people would stop smoking. The dancing Gipsy girl on the old blue Gitanes packet has been replaced by a woman in a wheelchair. This is quite funny really but also very sad.
All these are the result of that ASH message, relentlessy going on about death. There is no such thing as a professional smoker but there are a few thousand professional anti-smokers all funded by the smokers themselves. It's a ridiculous situation that I resent.
Now let's get back to the people who don't like smoking. Well, they have now triumphed, smoking cannot be tolerated. A large percentage of the people who smoked went to pubs for a smoke and a drink. I don't have to say that pubs aren't health clubs, do I? But why not have pubs that allow smokers? They do in Germany and Austria, but the mean-spirited bossy dreary people won't tolerate this here.
Britain used to be a tolerant place. To tolerate something is to put up with something you might not like. This is now gone for smokers. The British medical establishment believes it will be win, win, win. They also cannot understand that time is elastic. It is the intensity of life that counts, not longevity.
That's my message for today: Love life.
This is an edited version of David Hockney's letter to The Guardian.
EARLY US DATA SHOWS JUST 1.3 PER CENT OF CORONAVIRUS PATIENTS ARE SMOKERS
Early data from America's Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) showed that just 1.3 per cent of people diagnosed with COVID-19 were classified as smokers.
From a sample of 7,162 of the nation's earliest patients, just 96 were 'current smokers'. Just 22 out of 1,037 patients in hospital were smokers, along with five out of 457 in intensive care, according to the data.
This contrasts sharply with the CDC's statistics that show 14 per cent of all Americans regularly smoke cigarettes.
It is not clear whether there is a link between smoking and a lower risk of catching or falling ill with coronavirus, or whether recording of who smokes and who doesn't isn't up to scratch.
University College London's Professor Jamie Brown, a tobacco and public health expert, said he expects it to be the latter.
He told MailOnline: 'It's really difficult to assess how well smoking status has been recorded in an emerging epidemic and a lot of these people have been too sick to answer or may not have replied totally honestly.
'We know, generally, smokers tend to come from lower income groups which have poorer access to healthcare and may be more likely to die in the commmunity.'
Data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in the US showed that of around 7,000 COVID-19 patients, former smokers were more likely to be hospitalised or taken into intensive care than current smokers
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