Procedures
ACUTE RESPIRATORY INFECTION
All study drugs were stored under appropriate conditions. Molnupiravir (Lagevrio: Merck, Sharpe & Dohme, Rahaway, NJ, USA), and ritonavir-boosted nirmatrelvir (Paxlovid: Pfizer, New York, NY, USA) were given in standard doses (Prescreening occurred in the hospital’s acute respiratory infection unit. Potentially eligible participants were selected by the nurses on the unit to be contacted by the study team and were screened. Enrolled patients were admitted to the study ward or managed as outpatients, as per patient preference (none of the admissions were for clinical reasons, but for ease of adherence with the study procedures, or for self-isolation reasons). All treatments were directly observed. After randomisation and baseline procedures (The TaqCheck SARS-CoV-2 Fast PCR Assay (Applied Biosystems, Thermo Fisher Scientific, Waltham, MA, USA) quantitated viral loads (RNA copies per mL). This multiplexed real-time PCR method detects the SARS-CoV-2 N and S genes, and human RNase P gene in a single reaction. RNase P was used in the linear model to adjust for variation in sample human cell content (see 