.A low-cost steroid saves the lives of one third of those with most serious coronavirus symptoms, researchers in the UK found, in what has been described as a “groundbreaking development” in the fight against Covid-19.
Scientists led by a team from the University of Oxford gave 2,104 severely ill patients 6mg of the drug dexamethasone daily and compared the results with more than 4,000 who did not receive it.
Among patients who could breathe only with the help of a ventilator the drug reduced deaths by 35 per cent, and reduced deaths by one fifth for those receiving oxygen, trial results showed.
There was no benefit among those patients who did not require respiratory support.
Peter Horby, professor of emerging infectious diseases at Oxford and one of the chief investigators for the trial, said dexamethasone was the first drug shown to improve survival from Covid-19.
“This is an extremely welcome result,” he said.
“The survival benefit is clear and large in those patients who are sick enough to require oxygen treatment, so dexamethasone should now become standard of care in these patients. Dexamethasone is inexpensive, on the shelf and can be used immediately to save lives worldwide.”b
British Health Secretary Matt Hancock said the drug would be available in the UK immediately.
The UK government’s chief scientific adviser, Sir Patrick Vallance, said it underlined the necessity of doing high-quality clinical trials.
“This is a groundbreaking development in our fight against the disease, and the speed at which researchers have progressed finding an effective treatment is truly remarkable,” he said.
The news came as researchers at Imperial College London began human trials of a new coronavirus vaccine with 300 health participants.
If successful and shown to be safe the vaccine could be tested on around 6,000 volunteers later this year.
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Abu Dhabi GP schedule
Friday: First practice - 1pm; Second practice - 5pm
Saturday: Final practice - 2pm; Qualifying - 5pm
Sunday: Etihad Airways Abu Dhabi Grand Prix (55 laps) - 5.10pm
PSA DUBAI WORLD SERIES FINALS LINE-UP
Men’s:
Mohamed El Shorbagy (EGY)
Ali Farag (EGY)
Simon Rosner (GER)
Tarek Momen (EGY)
Miguel Angel Rodriguez (COL)
Gregory Gaultier (FRA)
Karim Abdel Gawad (EGY)
Nick Matthew (ENG)
Women's:
Nour El Sherbini (EGY)
Raneem El Welily (EGY)
Nour El Tayeb (EGY)
Laura Massaro (ENG)
Joelle King (NZE)
Camille Serme (FRA)
Nouran Gohar (EGY)
Sarah-Jane Perry (ENG)
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Dubai works towards better air quality by 2021
Dubai is on a mission to record good air quality for 90 per cent of the year – up from 86 per cent annually today – by 2021.
The municipality plans to have seven mobile air-monitoring stations by 2020 to capture more accurate data in hourly and daily trends of pollution.
These will be on the Palm Jumeirah, Al Qusais, Muhaisnah, Rashidiyah, Al Wasl, Al Quoz and Dubai Investment Park.
“It will allow real-time responding for emergency cases,” said Khaldoon Al Daraji, first environment safety officer at the municipality.
“We’re in a good position except for the cases that are out of our hands, such as sandstorms.
“Sandstorms are our main concern because the UAE is just a receiver.
“The hotspots are Iran, Saudi Arabia and southern Iraq, but we’re working hard with the region to reduce the cycle of sandstorm generation.”
Mr Al Daraji said monitoring as it stood covered 47 per cent of Dubai.
There are 12 fixed stations in the emirate, but Dubai also receives information from monitors belonging to other entities.
“There are 25 stations in total,” Mr Al Daraji said.
“We added new technology and equipment used for the first time for the detection of heavy metals.
“A hundred parameters can be detected but we want to expand it to make sure that the data captured can allow a baseline study in some areas to ensure they are well positioned.”
Result
Arsenal 4
Monreal (51'), Ramsey (82'), Lacazette 85', 89')
West Ham United 1
Arnautovic (64')
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
