The antivirals taskforce that could keep Covid patients out of hospital

If the Omicron death count falls short of the 6,000 a day envisaged by the gloomier Sage scenarios, it could be for many reasons. It might be because the variant is milder or because the vaccines offer strong protection — but there’s something else that seldom gets much notice. Britain has placed the world’s biggest per person order for new antiviral drugs that can be given to help those who have Covid and vastly reduce the scope for hospitalisation and death.

The scheme will target the 1.3 million people who are regarded as especially vulnerable to Covid for a whole bunch of reasons (and who tend to account for most of the death toll). They may be healthy but very old. They may be young but have had a kidney transplant, and are therefore taking immune-suppressing drugs which make them vulnerable to the virus. Everyone on this list has been sent an at-home PCR test, ready to use if they feel ill.