Branded as molnupiravir, the Covid pill demonstrated its effectiveness at preventing severe disease, hospitalisation and death in vulnerable patients who had contracted the deadly virus. There were 775 adult participants involved in the research who were considered higher risk for severe Covid disease. These participants had underlying health issues, such as obesity, diabetes, and heart disease – and all had a mild to moderate reaction to an infection from SARS-CoV-2 (the coronavirus).
Among those who took a placebo pill to treat the Covid infection, 14.1 percent were either admitted to hospital or died within 30 days.
Meanwhile, only 7.3 percent of those who took molnupiravir followed the same fate.
It is reported that there were no further deaths in the molnupiravir group after the 30 days, whereas eight deaths took place in the placebo group.
The results of this research study were released by molnupiravir’s creators, a German multinational science and technology company called Merck.
READ MORE: Pfizer booster shot: The five most common side effects reported
Merck plans to present its findings at a future medical conference, and if it is authorised for use worldwide, it could be a major advance in medicine.
How many people has Covid killed in the UK?
The Government reported that 159,716 people in the UK have lost their lives to coronavirus.
In the week ending Friday, September 17, there were 1,049 deaths due to Covid.
Meanwhile, the overall number of people passing away from Covid, week on week, is declining.
This can be attributed to the success of the vaccination campaign, which has seen more than 48 million have at least one dose of the Covid vaccine.
While no vaccine is 100 percent effective, Covid jabs have been proven to reduce the risk of severe disease, hospitalisation, and death from coronavirus.
As well as less people dying from Covid, statistics show that less people are being admitted to hospital.
Such positive results remain in the face of increasing Covid infections now that restrictions have been lifted for some time.
Signs of Covid
The Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) listed possible symptoms of a coronavirus infection, including:
- Fever or chills
- Cough
- Shortness of breath or difficulty breathing
- Fatigue
- Muscle or body aches
- Headache
- New loss of taste or smell
- Sore throat
- Congestion or runny nose
- Nausea or vomiting
- Diarrhoea.
Anybody experiencing signs of Covid are recommended by the NHS to take a free rapid flow test.
Should the results of this test be positive, you must self isolate and order a PCR test.