Camilla was a smoker for 30 years and only gave up to this habit in 2001. One health expert pointed out that ex-smokers such as the Duchess of Cornwall are more at risk during the coronavirus pandemic than people who never picked up smoking.
Shamir Patel, pharmacist and director at Chemist4U, outlined the problems smokers could have when it comes to coronavirus.
He told Express.co.uk: “Smoking is a significant risk factor when it comes to coronavirus.
“That’s often because those who smoke are more likely to develop lung diseases, such as chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.
“A smoker is also more likely to have damaged cilia – small hairs which move debris out of the lungs before a virus can take hold.
“With fewer cilia, smokers are more at risk of catching colds and are therefore more likely to catch COVID-19 too.
“They also have a poorer outcome if they do catch COVID-19, because they have other health factors at play, such as higher rates of hypertension, heart disease, circulation problems and decreased lung capacity.”
Ex-smokers can still be more at risk than non-smokers.
But the fact that Camilla quit cigarettes almost 20 years ago has helped her lungs repairing some of the damages created by smoking.
Mr Patel continued: “Ex-smokers, such as Camilla, are still at risk for all of these reasons, but the longer you’ve stopped smoking, the more chance your cilia have to repair.”
Camilla is believed to have given up smoking after experiencing a persistent cough.
A friend of the Duchess told the Daily Mail at the time: “She had a persistent cough which she couldn’t shake off.
“It wasn’t connected to her smoking but she decided it was a good opportunity.
“She’s been trying to give up for as long as I have known her but this time she’s given up for good.”
Camilla is set to remain in self-isolation for a few more days at her Scottish home at Birkhall.
The Duchess was tested for coronavirus alongside her husband after Prince Charles started displaying symptoms that could be linked to the disease.
After the Prince of Wales tested positive, the pair decided to isolate in two different wings of their home.
Prince Charles, tested last Monday, left the self-isolation after seven days.
Camilla, who doesn’t have coronavirus according to the test, needs to remain in seclusion for a total of 14 days since Prince Charles’s diagnosis.
This is because the incubation period of this virus is a little shorter than two weeks.
At the end of his quarantine, Prince Charles delivered a message also on behalf of Camilla.
In his speech, the prince described the self-isolation period saying it is a “strange, frustrating and often distressing experience” which separates individuals from their family and friends.
He also thanked NHS and frontline workers and urged Britons to be positive and think that this pandemic will end.
On Friday morning, the Prince of Wales carried out the first-ever launch of a hospital on a video call and officially opened the NHS Nightingale hospital.