Covid-19 LIVE UPDATES | Breakthrough in therapeutic trials for Covid-19 management
Image: AFP/ JUSTIN TALLIS
June 17 2020 - 8:39
Steroid drug hailed as 'breakthrough' for seriously ill COVID-19 patients
A cheap and widely-used steroid called dexamethasone has become the first drug shown to be able to save the lives of CovidD-19 patients in what scientists said is a "major breakthrough" in the coronavirus pandemic.
Trial results announced on Tuesday showed dexamethasone, which is used to reduce inflammation in other diseases such as arthritis, reduced death rates by around a third among the most severely ill Covid-19 patients admitted to hospital.
June 17 2020 - 7:04
Western Cape records 44 more Covid-19 deaths, breakthrough in recovery trial
SA's Covid-19 death toll has climbed to 1,625 with a massive increase in new cases recorded, health minister Zweli Mkhize said on Tuesday evening.
The country has recorded a further 57 Covid-19 related deaths: 44 in the Western Cape, nine in the Eastern Cape and four in KwaZulu-Natal.
The cumulative number of confirmed Covid-19 cases in SA is 76,334.