Doctors look to HIV and Ebola drugs for coronavirus cure

Early results of trials on Covid-19 patients expected in March

Doctors are likely to know within two to three weeks whether drugs being used to treat patients infected with the new coronavirus are working, according to the World Health Organization.

The timetable for early results from two trials taking place in China is short but feasible because of the large concentration of sick people at the centre of the outbreak in Hubei province. That allows a significant number of people of similar ages, fitness and stage of illness to be compared.