British scientists said on Thursday (December 30) they would be studying whether higher doses of a cheap and widely used steroid called dexamethasone could work better for patients with severe Covid-19 compared to the standard low doses.
Last year, the same scientists conducting the large trial, dubbed RECOVERY, showed that dexamethasone was able to save the lives of Covid-19 patients in what was called a "major breakthrough" in the coronavirus pandemic.
They had found that a 6 mg daily dose of dexamethasone, which is used to reduce inflammation in diseases such as arthritis, cut death rates by around a third among the most severely ill Covid-19 patients in hospitals.
"Given how quickly the Omicron variant is spreading, we can expect to see patients admitted to hospital with severe Covid-19 for a while to come," said Peter Horby, an Oxford University professor co-leading the trial.