A GROSS habit that millions of Brits could increase the risk of catching a deadly disease, it has been revealed.
Dutch researchers have found that a seemingly innocent, if frowned-upon, behaviour could boost your chances of contracting coronavirus.
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Their study of 200 healthcare workers found that picking your nose could roughly triple your chances of getting the sickness that caused the world to go into lockdown.
A whopping 17% of nose-pickers got Covid, compared to just 5.9% of non-pickers.
Shockingly, 85% of those surveyed admitted to nose-picking, with men more likely to indulge than women.
Other risk factors found included having a beard, as facial hair can potentially trap germs from coughs and sneezes.
However, they found no causal link between wearing glasses and increased coronavirus contraction rates.
The research is also caveated with the fact that health workers are more likely to come into contact with Covid through their work, meaning that the figures may not be replicated by the population at large.
It comes after another study claimed that six million more Covid patients could be alive today if Chinese authorities hadn’t attempted to cover up the initial outbreak.
The team behind the report alleged that China knew about the threat of a global pandemic five days before the rest of the world.
Meanwhile, scientists discovered a new Covid antibody that has the potential to wipe out all variants for good in a major breakthrough against the deadly illness.