Smokers are being urged to quit amid the coronavirus outbreak.

Early research suggests the infection is mild in four out of five cases, with a relatively small number of patients developing complications.

The vast majority of deaths are occurring among the elderly and already ill.

This prompted Boris Johnson to tell 1.5 million vulnerable Britons to stay at home for three months on Saturday.

Severe asthmatics, organ-transplant receivers and blood-cancer patients are just a few of those urged to self-isolate entirely.

While smokers are not generally being considered an at-risk group, this is “a very good moment” to quit.

The coronavirus is thought to have emerged at a seafood and live animal market in the Chinese city Wuhan, capital of Hubei province, at the end of last year.

It has since spread worldwide, with cases being confirmed in more than 160 countries across every inhabited continent.

Since the outbreak was identified, more than 341,700 people have tested positive for the virus, of whom over 98,800 have “recovered”, according to John Hopkins University data.

Cases have been plateauing in China since the end of February, with Europe now the epicenter of the pandemic.

Italy alone has had more than 59,000 confirmed cases, with over 650 people dying from the infection just on Sunday.

Globally, the death toll has exceeded 14,700.

In the UK, more than 5,600 people have tested positive for the virus, of whom 281 have died.

Read more: yahoo