Treatment of patients with nonsevere and severe coronavirus disease 2019: an evidencebased guideline

On Mar. 11, 2020, the World Health Organization (WHO) declared coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) a pandemic. The worldwide spread of COVID-19 represents a profound threat to human health. Patients with COVID-19 present primarily with fever, cough, and myalgia or fatigue, and sometimes initially with predominantly gastrointestinal symptoms. A minority of patients progress to severe pneumonia, and about 15% of these patients to critical illness characterized by acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS), which is associated with mortality of about 50%. Here, Zhikang Ye et al. have developed an evidence-based guideline that focuses on both patients with nonsevere and severe COVID-19 and, for use of corticosteroids, patients with ARDS.