Cases falling

First, some good news.

A large-scale trial of a new treatment to stop people suffering from Covid-19 from becoming seriously ill has begun in the UK.

Early findings suggest that the treatment, developed at Southampton University Hospital, slashes the odds of a patient going on to develop severe symptoms by nearly 80%.

Synairgen, the biotech firm developing the treatment, said that Covid-sufferers who received the drug were between two and three times more likely to recover to a point where they could resume everyday activities. Patients breath from a nebuliser and inhale a protein called interferon beta as a fine mist.