The French government on Friday issued a decree suspending online sales of nicotine patches and other products designed to help smokers quit, and told pharmacies to limit physical sales. Chemists were told to only dispense the products to customers in amounts needed for one month of treatment. 

It follows the publication of a study this week on 483 patients at Pitié-Salpêtrière hospital in Paris, that found the infection rate for smokers among Covid-19 outpatients and inpatients was significantly lower than for non-smokers. [...]