The Times of London reports that a leaked report by a scientist indicates that patients are making rapid recoveries after being treated with the antiviral drug remdesivir. Remdesivir was originally developed to treat ebola

A trial of the drug at the University of Chicago also suggests that patients were recovering rapidly with remdesivir and were coming off the ventilators fast with fewer deaths.

The drug is now being tested at 15 NHS centres.

It is claimed that remdesivir acts on the RNA polymerase and prevents replication of the virus in the cell.