© Provided by Cover Media People experiencing mild Covid-19 symptoms could be given a pill to take at home to prevent hospitalisation in the U.K.
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson announced on Tuesday that an antivirals task force had been set up to find at least two drugs that can stop coronavirus symptoms worsening and speed up recovery.
It is hoped the treatments, which will be in the form of a pill or capsule, will be available for use by the autumn amid fears of another surge of the virus.
"The majority of scientific opinion in this country is still firmly of the view that there will be another wave of Covid at some stage this year," he said at a press conference. "The success of our vaccination programme has demonstrated what the U.K. can achieve when we bring together our brightest minds.
"Our new antivirals task force will seek to develop innovative treatments you can take at home to stop Covid-19 in its tracks. These could provide another vital defence against any future increase in infections and save more lives."
The antivirals task force will be part of the nationwide strategy to control the spread of Covid-19, which also involves administering booster jabs in the autumn to deter new variants and ongoing mass testing.
Now fewer people are dying from the virus in the U.K., the focus is switching to drugs that may prevent mild Covid-19 from becoming a more serious illness. So far, drugs used to treat the virus have been mainly for people who are already seriously ill in hospital.
It is believed the task force will concentrate on researching antiviral monoclonal antibodies - proteins made in laboratories to combat the virus alongside the immune system.
However, these treatments are expensive and there are still doubts over their effectiveness.
"Antivirals in tablet form are another key tool for the response," said the U.K. government's chief scientific adviser, Sir Patrick Vallance. "They could help protect those not protected by or ineligible for vaccines. They could also be another layer of defence in the face of new variants of concern."