More Covid-19 patients needed for drug trials, says Matt Hancock

More patients with Covid-19 are needed to take part in clinical trials to find licensed drugs that could be effective in treating the virus, the health secretary has said, welcoming “the breathtaking speed” with which the experiments were set up.

Speaking at the government’s daily coronavirus press conference, Matt Hancock said the government was “bringing together some of the finest research minds in the country” to design and deliver trials at record pace.

“We have established three national clinical trials covering each major stage of the disease: primary care, hospital care and critical care for the most seriously ill,” he said.

Symptoms are defined by the NHS as either:

• a high temperature - you feel hot to touch on your chest or back

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NHS advice is that anyone with symptoms should stay at home for at least 7 days.

If you live with other people, they should stay at home for at least 14 days, to avoid spreading the infection outside the home.

After 14 days, anyone you live with who does not have symptoms can return to their normal routine. But, if anyone in your home gets symptoms, they should stay at home for 7 days from the day their symptoms start. Even if it means they're at home for longer than 14 days.

If you live with someone who is 70 or over, has a long-term condition, is pregnant or has a weakened immune system, try to find somewhere else for them to stay for 14 days.

If you have to stay at home together, try to keep away from each other as much as possible.

After 7 days, if you no longer have a high temperature you can return to your normal routine.

If you still have a high temperature, stay at home until your temperature returns to normal.

If you still have a cough after 7 days, but your temperature is normal, you do not need to continue staying at home. A cough can last for several weeks after the infection has gone.

Staying at home means you should:

• not go to work, school or public areas

• not use public transport or taxis

• not have visitors, such as friends and family, in your home

• not go out to buy food or collect medicine – order them by phone or online, or ask someone else to drop them off at your home

You can use your garden, if you have one. You can also leave the house to exercise – but stay at least 2 metres away from other people.

If you have symptoms of coronavirus, use the NHS 111 coronavirus service to find out what to do.

Source: NHS England on 23 March 2020

“Just like the Nightingale hospital, one of these was put together in just nine days, which is breathtaking speed, these trials are looking at the effectiveness of existing drugs and steroids repurposed for treatment for Covid-19.

“One of the trials, which is called recovery and deals in hospital care, is the largest of its kind in the world, with 926 patients involved.”

Hancock, who recently emerged from a week of self-isolation after being diagnosed with coronavirus, said more patients were needed to volunteer to take part in the trial. The “bigger the trials, the better the data and the faster we can roll out the treatments”, he said.

The deputy chief medical officer for England, Jonathan Van-Tam, said doctors would approach suitable patients about taking part in clinical trials in the UK. “First of all, we need the physicians in charge of their care to sign up for the clinical trial. Then it is up to the physician to approach the patient and ask them if they would like to take part,” he said.

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“It is a process of very careful written informed consent for that to happen. The straight answer is yes, we do need people to take part in the clinical trials, and they are doing.”

Van-Tam said he expected it to be a few months before the drug trials yielded results. “It will all depend on how quickly patients are recruited into the trials across the NHS,” he said.

Boris Johnson, who was also diagnosed with Covid-19 last week, announced that he would have to stay in self-isolation in his flat at 11 Downing Street longer than the seven-day minimum because he still had a temperature.

Related: Coronavirus deaths of two nurses lead to calls for more protection

The Department of Health confirmed that, as of 5pm on Thursday, 684 more people had died in hospital after testing positive for coronavirus, bringing the total deaths in the UK to 3,605. Hancock insisted on Friday there was capacity in the NHS to deal with the crisis, with 2,029 critical care beds currently unoccupied, not including those at the newly opened NHS Nightingale.

After growing criticism of the government’s failure to pursue a strategy of mass testing for coronavirus as advocated by the World Health Organization, Hancock made a new pledge on Thursday to complete 100,000 tests a day in England by the end of the month.

“I’ve been really delighted by the response since I set that challenge down at this press conference yesterday,” he said on Friday. “More people have come forward saying that they can turn their capabilities to increasing testing and we’re going to have to hit that target.”

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Hancock indicated earlier that the coronavirus outbreak could reach its peak in the UK on Easter Sunday, with about 1,000 deaths a day in the lead-up. But speaking at the press conference on Friday evening, he cautioned against over-interpreting his comments, saying the spread of the virus depended on how people adhered to lockdown rules.

With the weekend’s weather forecast to be sunny and mild, England’s chief nursing officer, Ruth May, told the press conference that members of the public should not to be tempted to go outside. She urged them to remember the two nurses who had died from the virus.

Echoing a plea by the prime minister earlier in the day, she said: “This weekend is going to be very warm and it will be very tempting to go out and enjoy those summer rays. But please, I ask you to remember Aimee [O’Rourke] and Areema [Nasreen]. Please stay at home for them.”