Britain says it has secured deals for two Covid-19 antivirals, one developed by Merck and the other by Pfizer, which it says could be used to treat patients by the end of the year if regulatory approval is granted, according to Reuters.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson has removed almost all Covid-19 restrictions and is relying on Covid-19 vaccines and treatments to try and withstand winter pressures on hospitals given high case numbers of more than 40,000 new infections a day.

“We may soon have a new defence in our arsenal with two new antiviral drugs that we have secured,” Health Minister Sajid Javid said in a statement.