A look at promising treatments for COVID-19 Taking pressure off hospitals The scientists said the research was inspired after reports of COVID-19 hospital emissions showed that patients with chronic respiratory disease were significantly underrepresented. They hypothesized that the widespread use among these patients of inhaled glucocorticoids, a type of corticosteroid, was behind this trend. The research investigated whether budesonide had the potential to reduce COVID-19 patients' need for emergency care, therefore minimizing pressure on hospitals. "It is a widely available, low-cost medicine — which is relatively safe, which can be given to patients early in their COVID-19 illness," said Mona Bafadhel, one of the study's authors and an associate professor of respiratory medicine at the University of Oxford. "This would take pressure off healthcare systems."