UK launches search for Covid treatments patients can take at home

Britons who test positive could be sent antiviral tablets to accelerate recovery

Britain's Prime Minister Boris Johnson gives an update on the coronavirus Covid-19 pandemic during a virtual press conference inside the new Downing Street Briefing Room. AFP

People with Covid-19 could take tablets at home within months, UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson said.

Britain is searching for antivirals with the aim of having at least two treatments that can be taken at home by the end of the year.

Mr Johnson said people who tested positive for the coronavirus, or lived with someone who was ill, could be sent the medication.

"Our new Antivirals Taskforce will seek to develop innovative treatments you can take at home to stop Covid-19 in its tracks," he said.

"These could provide another vital defence against any future increase in infections and save more lives."

Mr Johnson said the taskforce would be based on the success of the UK's vaccine programme and would help to give greater confidence that the country is on the path to greater freedom.

But he said that scientists believed a new wave of Covid-19 would hit at some point this year.

“We must not delude ourselves that Covid has gone away," Mr Johnson said.

Research by British scientists has established that a steroid, dexamethasone, and tocilizumab, an arthritis drug, reduce the risk of death in patients with severe Covid-19.

Patrick Vallance, the UK government's chief scientific adviser, said antivirals in tablet form might help to protect people who could not have vaccines and defend against new coronavirus variants.

Health Secretary Matt Hancock said medicines were a “vital weapon” in battling the disease.

“The UK is leading the world in finding and rolling out effective treatments for Covid-19, having identified dexamethasone, which has saved over a million lives worldwide, and tocilizumab,” Mr Hancock said.

The antiviral treatments will work alongside the UK’s vaccination programme.

So far 33,032,120 people have received their first vaccine, and 10,425,790 of them have had their second.

On Monday India was added to the government’s red list of countries after confirmed cases of the Indian Covid-19 variant in the UK rose to 103.

From 4am London time on Friday, returning British citizens will have to pay to enter quarantine for 10 days in a government-approved hotel, while others will not be allowed into the country.

Concerns are rising that the variant, identified in India, could be behind a devastating wave of new infections in the subcontinent.

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