Clinical management of COVID-19: Living guideline, 23 June 2022
Overview
This publication has been superseded by a new version, dated 15 September 2022.
The WHO COVID-19 Clinical management: living guidance contains the Organization’s most up-to-date recommendations for the clinical management of people with COVID-19. Providing guidance that is comprehensive and holistic for the optimal care of COVID-19 patients throughout their entire illness is important.
This updated (fourth) version contains three new recommendations regarding hospitalized patients with severe or critical COVID-19, which includes a:
- conditional recommendation to use high-flow nasal oxygen (HFNO) in hospitalized patients with severe or critical COVID-19 and acute hypoxaemic respiratory failure (AHRF) not needing emergent intubation rather than standard oxygen therapy
- conditional recommendation to use continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) in hospitalized patients with severe or critical COVID-19 and acute hypoxaemic respiratory failure (AHRF) not needing emergent intubation rather than standard oxygen therapy
- conditional recommendation to use non-invasive ventilation in hospitalized patients with severe or critical COVID-19 and acute hypoxaemic respiratory failure (AHRF) not needing emergent intubation rather than standard oxygen therapy
Guidelines regarding the use of drugs to treat COVID-19 are included in a separate WHO document, Therapeutics and COVID-19: living guideline, that can via an online platform and in
pdf format
(or click ‘PDF’ in top right corner of online platform).
Guidelines regarding the use of drugs to prevent COVID-19 are included in a separate document, WHO Living guideline: Drugs to prevent COVID-19, that can be accessed via an online platform and in pdf format (or click ‘PDF’ in top right corner of online platform).
To view previous (now outdated) versions of this guideline, please see the links below:
- First version, published 27 May 2020 (accessible as pdf only), was originally published under the title "Clinical management of COVID-19: interim guidance, 27 May 2020".
- Second version, published 25 January 2021 (access via an online platform or as pdf).
- Third version, published 23 November 202 (access via an online platform or as a pdf)
