The World Health Organisation has hailed a "breakthrough" steroid treatment for the coronavirus, boosting hopes that pandemic deaths can be reduced, but a growing new cluster in China sparked fears of a second wave of infections AFP reported.

Surging death tolls in the Americas and South Asia, plus a new cluster of cases in Beijing, have raised fresh doubts about how soon the world can bring Covid-19 under control. But news of the first proven effective treatment for COVID-19, a widely available steroid, gave cause for fresh hope.