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.
"It does increase your chances of survival quite significantly," Health Secretary Matt Hancock told Sky News. "It is one of the best pieces of news we've had through this whole crisis."
He said that the R-rate was below 1 in all regions but did not clarify if he was speaking about England or the entire United Kingdom.