Hospitals will be using two new Covid medicines come next week, as Omicron cases tick upwards

Pharmac's confirmed Baricitinib and Ronapreve are available for use from next Tuesday.

Baricitinib can help treat those with moderate to severe Covid symptoms.

Ronapreve will be for patients with mild to moderate symptoms, who are at high risk of severe illness.

Pharmac chief medical officer Dr David Hughes says Baricitinib appears to be effective against Omicron.

He says Ronapreve's effect on the variant is less clear, but they're keeping an eye on all the data.