British scientists have found the first drug to stop people dying from Covid-19 which will be rolled out on the NHS from tomorrow.
Breakthrough research has shows a common steroid given to coronavirus patients could have saved between 4,000 and 5,000 lives in the UK.
A third fewer patients on ventilators died when given dexamethasone compared to those given standard NHS care. Leading scientists running the RECOVERY trial say the £6 drug will now become the standard of care for all Covid-19 patients on oxygen in hospitals.
Chief investigator Peter Horby, of Oxford University, said: “This is the only drug that has so far been shown to decrease mortality, and it reduced it significantly. “It is a major breakthrough.” The clinical trial gave