COVID-19 is a respiratory disease, it attacks the lungs. This implies that the risk of experiencing severe symptoms is increased for anyone who has weakened lungs, such as smokers. In 2015 in South Africa ~18% of South African adults were smokers, compared to ~28% of Chinese adults. Interestingly, for both countries far more men (~29% in SA and ~52% in China) were smokers than women (~7% in SA and ~3% in China). (https://bit.ly/2MKCZ2S, https://bit.ly/2XQE6nU, https://bit.ly/3dU73F8)