Can we trust the hype over steroids as a coronavirus treatment? - a podcast by ABC News

You might have seen the headlines over the past day or two about the drug dexamethasone, which claims to be a major breakthrough in the coronavirus pandemic.

The drug is a cheap and widely used steroid, and reduced death rates by about a third among the most severely ill COVID-19 patients in hospital.

But news of the drug's success in trials came not from a peer-reviewed scientific paper, but instead via press release and snippets on Twitter.

So how much can we trust the results?

On today's show:

* What is dexamethasone and why is it being touted as a coronavirus treatment?

* Beijing has been battling with a fresh outbreak of the new coronavirus. What’s going on?

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