Coronavirus: Saudi Arabia begins using steroid dexamethasone to treat severe cases


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Saudi Arabian authorities started this week using a steroid to treat severe coronavirus cases after the drug was hailed as effective in the UK, despite scepticism in the US.

The health ministry said on Wednesday that use of dexamethasone has started in “hospitalised patients and those in intensive care units, and the ones on oxygen”.

Daily confirmed cases in Saudi Arabia exceeded 4,000 for the fifth straight day on Thursday, with the health ministry announcing 4,757 new cases in the last 24 hours and 48 deaths.

The latest data brings the official infections tally to 145,991 with 1,139 deaths.

Saudi authorities have been cautioning that the number of people in critical condition in the Kingdom also rose sharply in the past few weeks to 1,877.

Oxford University said this week that a study it conducted showed that the anti-inflammatory drug reduced death rates by about a third among the most severe patients in hospitals.

UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson said that “he chances of dying from Covid-19 "have been greatly reduced by this treatment".

But some prominent doctors in the US were sceptical about dexamethasone, saying they needed to see the raw data.

They pointed to The Lancet, the leading British medical journal, which withdrew this month an article about a study on hydroxychloroquine and the coronavirus over defects in the data.

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Director: Christian Schwochow

Starring: George MacKay, Jannis Niewohner, Jeremy Irons

Rating: 3/5

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UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
One in nine do not have enough to eat

Created in 1961, the World Food Programme is pledged to fight hunger worldwide as well as providing emergency food assistance in a crisis.

One of the organisation’s goals is the Zero Hunger Pledge, adopted by the international community in 2015 as one of the 17 Sustainable Goals for Sustainable Development, to end world hunger by 2030.

The WFP, a branch of the United Nations, is funded by voluntary donations from governments, businesses and private donations.

Almost two thirds of its operations currently take place in conflict zones, where it is calculated that people are more than three times likely to suffer from malnutrition than in peaceful countries.

It is currently estimated that one in nine people globally do not have enough to eat.

On any one day, the WFP estimates that it has 5,000 lorries, 20 ships and 70 aircraft on the move.

Outside emergencies, the WFP provides school meals to up to 25 million children in 63 countries, while working with communities to improve nutrition. Where possible, it buys supplies from developing countries to cut down transport cost and boost local economies.

 

MATCH INFO

English Premiership semi-finals

Saracens 57
Wasps 33

Exeter Chiefs 36
Newcastle Falcons 5

Analysis

Members of Syria's Alawite minority community face threat in their heartland after one of the deadliest days in country’s recent history. Read more

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At a glance

Global events: Much of the UK’s economic woes were blamed on “increased global uncertainty”, which can be interpreted as the economic impact of the Ukraine war and the uncertainty over Donald Trump’s tariffs.

 

Growth forecasts: Cut for 2025 from 2 per cent to 1 per cent. The OBR watchdog also estimated inflation will average 3.2 per cent this year

 

Welfare: Universal credit health element cut by 50 per cent and frozen for new claimants, building on cuts to the disability and incapacity bill set out earlier this month

 

Spending cuts: Overall day-to day-spending across government cut by £6.1bn in 2029-30 

 

Tax evasion: Steps to crack down on tax evasion to raise “£6.5bn per year” for the public purse

 

Defence: New high-tech weaponry, upgrading HM Naval Base in Portsmouth

 

Housing: Housebuilding to reach its highest in 40 years, with planning reforms helping generate an extra £3.4bn for public finances

Tearful appearance

Chancellor Rachel Reeves set markets on edge as she appeared visibly distraught in parliament on Wednesday. 

Legislative setbacks for the government have blown a new hole in the budgetary calculations at a time when the deficit is stubbornly large and the economy is struggling to grow. 

She appeared with Keir Starmer on Thursday and the pair embraced, but he had failed to give her his backing as she cried a day earlier.

A spokesman said her upset demeanour was due to a personal matter.