(Karachi) In a major breakthrough, scientists in the United Kingdom have discovered that a widely available drug, dexamethasone, could save lives of critical coronavirus patients.

The medicine is helpful in reducing death rates by a third for Covid-19 patients on ventilators and by a fifth for patients needing oxygen.

Scientists describe the latest discovery as a cheap and available treatment for corona patients. The drug is part of the world's biggest trial testing for treatment of coronavirus.

BREAKING: British trial of Dexamethasone shows the drug cuts risk of death in coronavirus patients who are on on a ventilator by a third.

— The Spectator Index (@spectatorindex) June 16, 2020

Researchers said at least 5,000 lives could have been saved by the medicine if it had been used earlier in the pandemic.

Oxford University Professor Martin Landray, who is co-leading the trial, said: "This is a result that shows that if patients who have COVID-19 and are on ventilators or are on oxygen are given dexamethasone, it will save lives, and it will do so at a remarkably low cost."

Landray added, "Hospital patients should now be given it without delay, but people should not go out and buy it to take at home."

Dexamethasone has been used since the early 1960s to treat a wide range of conditions, such as rheumatoid arthritis and asthma. The drug is given intravenously in intensive care, and in tablet form for less seriously ill patients.