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Unregulated sale of smokeless tobacco can spread COVID

Doctors are advocating stringent regulations on chewing tobacco and smokeless tobacco products like ‘gutka’, and ‘pan masala’ variants.

The need for regulations to curtail the use of smokeless tobacco is even more significant during the COVID-19 pandemic as this variant of tobacco is mostly chewed and spat, which aids in the spread of coronavirus. The saliva of a person carries the virus which can travel on aerosols and infect people in proximity.