NANCY LAPID THE following is a roundup of some of the latest scientific studies on the novel coronavirus and efforts to find treatments and vaccines for COVID-19, the illness caused by the virus. Steroids reduce death risk from severe COVID-19 Treating critically ill COVID-19 patients with corticosteroid drugs reduces the risk of death by 20% regardless of which steroid is used, according to an analysis of seven international trials published on Wednesday in the Journal of the American Medical Association. The analysis, which pooled data from separate trials of low dose hydrocortisone, dexamethasone and methylprednisolone, found that they improve survival…