A NURSE from Redditch has become one of the first people in the country to take an at-home treatment for Covid as part of a major national study.

Sonia Bryan took the antiviral drug molnupiravir while suffering from Covid as part of the national Panoramic trial run by the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) and the University of Oxford.

The trial aims to find new antiviral treatments to help people recover from Covid-19 at home, without needing to be treated at hospital.

It is open to those with a positive test within five days from the onset of symptoms who are aged 50 and over, or between 18 to 49 years with underlying health conditions.

Sonia's sister, a research nurse, recommended she apply to take part as she fulfilled the criteria, leading to her becoming one of the UK's first recipients of the drug.

Sonia said: “I’m not a youngster and I’m prone to chest infections and pneumonia. I don’t know if I would have got worse and ended up in hospital."

The 65-year-old is now back at work nursing having spent the first lockdown working solely on a Covid ward.

She added: "I'm just hoping that it [the drug] does take off. I dread to think what those poor patients who had to be on ventilators went through."

Professor Nick Lemoine, Medical Director of the National Institute for Health Research Clinical Research Network (CRN) said: “Earlier trials have shown these new antivirals to be safe and effective in treating COVID-19. However more data is needed on how well they work in populations that are largely vaccinated - as we have in the UK.

"The Panoramic trial will rapidly generate the additional evidence needed for the NHS to roll-out this exciting new-generation of COVID-19 treatments, as quickly and safely as possible."