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LONDON, June 17 (Reuters) - Britain's health minister on
Wednesday hailed the use of a steroid called dexamethasone for
treating coronavirus patients as the best news so far of the
outbreak.
Trial results announced on Tuesday showed dexamethasone,
which is used to reduce inflammation in other diseases such as
arthritis, reduced death rates by around a third among the most
severely ill COVID-19 patients admitted to hospital.
"It does increase your chances of survival quite
significantly," Health Secretary Matt Hancock told Sky News. "It
is one of the best pieces of news we've had through this whole
crisis."
He said that the R-rate was below 1 in all regions but did
not clarify if he was speaking about England or the entire
United Kingdom.
(Reporting by Guy Faulconbridge and Kate Holton; editing by
Michael Holden)
