A cheap and widely available drug called dexamethasone can help save the lives of patients who are seriously ill with coronavirus

UK experts say the low-dose steroid treatment is a major breakthrough in the fight against the deadly virus.

It cut the risk of death by a third for patients on ventilators. For those on oxygen, it cut deaths by a fifth.

The drug is part of the world's biggest trial, which is testing existing treatments to see if they also work for coronavirus.

Researchers say if the drug had been available in the UK from the start of the coronavirus pandemic up to 5,000 lives could have been saved.

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And because it is cheap, it could also be of huge benefit in poor countries struggling with high numbers of Covid-19 patients.

Commenting on the results of the trial, NHS chief executive Simon Stevens said: "NHS hospitals, researchers and clinicians have worked together at breakneck speed to test new treatments for covid-19, and it is amazing to see work that would normally take years bear fruit in just a matter of months.

"This research agility is not only important for coronavirus patients, but augurs well for the streamlined innovation that the NHS and the UK life sciences now must pioneer."

Professor Stephen Powis, NHS medical director added: “This is a huge breakthrough in our search for new ways to successfully treat patients with covid, both in the UK and across the world. 

"It is thanks to NHS staff and patients who participated in the trial that from now, we are able to use this drug to dramatically improve Covid-19 survival for people in hospital who require oxygen or ventilation.”