News that some Covid-19 patients are to receive a drug which could shorten recovery time has been hailed as “the biggest step forward” in the treatment of the virus since the crisis began.
The comments were made about the Remdesivir drug at Tuesday's Downing Street briefing by Health Secretary Matt Hancock.
The treatment was originally developed to fight Ebola and appears to shorten recovery time for people with Covid-19.
The anti-viral drug has now been made available for selected hospital patients after it was approved by regulators.
Mr Hancock said early data suggested it could shorten recovery times by around four days.
It will be available and prioritised for patients who meet certain clinical criteria to support their recovery in hospital. Supplies are limited, so it will be given to those patients most likely to benefit from it.
Mr Hancock said: “This is probably the biggest step forward in the treatment of coronavirus since the crisis began. These are very early steps but we are determined to support the science and back the project.”
He added that "in the battle against this virus, we are all on the same side".
At the briefing, he also said the UK can now begin to replenish its personal protective equipment (PPE) stockpiles after brokering new deals and increasing manufacture.
He told the daily Downing Street press conference: “I can announce that we have now signed contracts to manufacture two billion items of PPE here in the UK.
“Around the world, we’ve signed deals with over 100 new suppliers including agreeing contracts for a further 3.7 billion gloves.
“While we continue to improve the logistics and work hard to get everyone the PPE they need, these new supplies mean we’re not simply keeping up with demand, we’re now able to begin to replenish our stockpiles.”
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