Table III.

Data extracted from included papers

	Author/title/DOI	Sample size	Mean age (years)	Gender	Type of study	Therapeutic treatment	Type: N (%)	Outcomes (recovery/mortality)	Adverse events	Quality assessment (applicable/inapplicable)
1	Cao et al. A trial of lopinavir–ritonavir in adults hospitalized with severe COVID-19. N Engl J Med 2020. https://doi.org/10.1056/NEJMoa2001282	199	58	120 M 79 F	Randomized clinical trial	Lopinavir and ritonavir	Lopinavir and ritonavir: 50%Standard care: 50%	In hospitalized adult patients with severe COVID-19, no benefit was observed with lopinavir–ritonavir treatment beyond standard careNineteen deaths among patients who received the intervention	14% of patients who received lopinavir–ritonavir developed gastrointestinal adverse events, including anorexia, nausea, abdominal discomfort or diarrhoea, as well as two serious adverse events (both acute gastritis)Two recipients had self-limited skin eruptions	The study addressed a focused issue Randomization with intention-to-treat analysis The population who entered the study were accounted for properly in the conclusion Not blinded The two groups who entered the study were similar and treated equally The primary outcome was specified clearly
2	Cao et al. Clinical features and short-term outcomes of 18 patients with coronavirus disease 2019 in intensive care unit. Intensive Care Med 2020.https://doi.org/10.1007/s00134-020-05987-7	41	49	30 M 11 F	Prospective	Antibiotics and oseltamivir (orally 75 mg twice daily)Corticosteroid was given as a combined regimen if severe community-acquired pneumonia was diagnosed by physicians at the designated hospital	All patients received empirical antibiotic treatmentAntiviral (oseltamivir): 38 (93%)Systemic corticosteroid: 9 (22%)	Antiviral: 12 ICU admissions (92%) Antibiotic: 13 ICU admissions (100%) Corticosteroid: six ICU admissions (46%)	Not reported	Adverse events not reported Treatment given not specified Types of antibiotics given not mentioned
3	Chen et al. Favipiravir versus arbidol for COVID-19: a randomized clinical trial. medRxiv 2020. https://doi.org/10.1101/2020.03.17.200	236	56 (25–86)	Favipiravir group:59 M 57 FArbidol group:51 M 69 F	Randomized controlled trial	Favipiravir Arbidol	Antiviral: 116 Antiviral: 120	71 patients recovered	Abnormal liver function tests, raised serum uric acid, psychiatric symptom reactions and digestive tract reactions	No effective antiviral drug was reported, and the drugs mentioned were based on the sixth edition of the guidelines of Chinese diagnosis and treatment plan of COVID-19 patients
4	Chen et al. Thalidomide combined with low-dose glucocorticoid in the treatment of COVID-19 pneumonia 2020. Preprints 2020; 2020020395. https://www.preprints.org/manuscript/202002.0395/v1	1	45	F	Case report	Thalidomide and low-dose glucocorticoid. The patient was first treated with oral ofloxacin and oseltamivir, but her condition deteriorated. The patient was subsequently treated with lopinavir/ritonavir		Thalidomide inhibits the cytokine surge and regulates immune functions. In addition, it can be used to calm patients down in order to reduce oxygen consumption and relieve digestive symptoms	Not reported	Randomized controlled trials are needed
5	Chen et al. Clinical study of mesenchymal stem cell treating acute respiratory distress syndrome induced by epidemic influenza A (H7N9) infection, a hint for COVID-19 treatment. Engineering 2020. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.eng.2020.02.006	61	62	Not mentioned	Open labelled clinical trial	Oseltamivir or peramivir (according to standard therapy) and antibiotics were given based on positive blood test results	Not mentioned	17.6% of patients in the experimental group and 54.5% of patients in the control group died	Not reported	With only 17 patients using mesenchymal stem cells, it cannot be guaranteed that every step was perfect during the phase with a single clinical trialSome patients refused to attend and some did not complete follow-up. Thus, there is still concern about the long-term safety of mesenchymal stem cell transplantation for the treatment of H7N9-induced ARDS, despite the lack of side-effects observed in this clinical trial This study was undertaken on patients with H7N9 not COVID-19
6	Chen et al. Retrospective analysis of clinical features in 101 death cases with COVID-19. medRxiv 2020. https://doi.org/10.1101/2020.03.09.20033068	101	65.46	64 M 37 F	Single centre and observational study (retrospective)	Antiviral drugs, including oseltamivir, ribavirin, lopinavir, ritonavir, ganciclovir and interferon Glucocorticoids, IV immunoglobulins and thymosin preparations Antibiotic treatment, including cephalosporins, quinolones, carbapenems, linezolid and tigecycline	Antiviral: 61 (60.4%) Glucocorticoid: 59 (58.42%)IV immunoglobulin: 63.37% Thymosin: 44.55%Antibiotic: 101 (100%)Restricted antibiotic: 63 (62.38%)Antifungal: 23 (22.78%)	101 patients died	Not reported	Only the critical death patients are included No comparison was made between the improvement groups
7	Chen et al. Clinical progression of patients with COVID-19 in Shanghai, China. J Infect 2020. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jinf.2020.03.004	249	51	126 M 123 F	Retrospective, single-centre study	Antiviral drugs (e.g. lopinavir/ritonavir, arbidol) were used in a small proportion of patients Corticosteroids were not used unless considered necessary by an expert panel (e.g. ARDS)	Not mentioned	Two patients died (0.8%) 22 patients were admitted to ICU (8.8%) Eight patients developed ARDS (3.2%) 215 patients were discharged (86.3%)	Not reported	A small proportion the patients were still hospitalized at the time of manuscript submission. Therefore, clinical outcomes in these patients were not available and continued observations are needed SARS-CoV-2 was not tested daily for all patients. Hence, the actual time to viral clearance should be shorter than the estimated value
8	Chen et al. Epidemiological and clinical characteristics of 99 cases of 2019 novel coronavirus pneumonia in Wuhan, China: a descriptive study. Lancet 2020; 395:507–13.	99	55.5	67 M 32 F	Retrospective, single-centre descriptive study	Antibiotic: cephalo-sporins, quinolones, carbapenems, tigecycline against meticillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus, linezolid Antifungal Antiviral: oseltamivir, ganciclovir and lopinavir/ritonavir Glucocorticoid: methylprednisolone sodium succinate, methylprednisolone and dexamethasone- Immunoglobulin	Antibiotic: 70 (71%) Antifungal: 15 (15%) Antiviral: 75 (76%), including oseltamivir (75 mg every 12 h, orally), ganciclovir (0.25 g every 12 h, intravenously), and lopinavir/ritonavir (500 mg twice daily, orally). The duration of antiviral treatment was 3–14 days Glucocorticoid: 19 (19%) IV immunoglobulin: 27 (27%)	11 (11%) patients died	Not reported or NA	Suspected but undiagnosed cases were ruled out in the analyses More detailed patient information, particularly regarding clinical outcomes, was unavailable at the time of analysis
9	Chen et al. Epidemiological and clinical features of 291 cases with coronavirus disease 2019 in areas adjacent to Hubei, China: a double-center observational study. medRxiv 2020. https://doi.org/10.1101/2020.03.03.20030353	291	46	145 M 146 F	Double-centre observational study	Antiviral including lopinavir and ritonavir Recombinant human interferon-α2b Recombinant cytokine gene-derived protein Arbidol hydrochloride Chinese medicine	Antiviral: 285 (97.9%)Lopinavir/ritonavir: 75.9% Recombinant human interferon-α2b: 45.4% Recombinant cytokine gene-derived protein: 18.9% Arbidol hydrochloride: 17.2% Chinese medicine: 281 (96.6%)	Two (0.7%) patients died	Not reported	Due to limitations of the retrospective study, laboratory examinations were performed according to the clinical care needs of the patients; as such, some laboratory examinations were not completed Given the short observation period, nearly half of the patients were still receiving treatment in hospital at the end of the follow-up period, and it was not possible to determine mortality and prognosis of the whole case series
10	Cui et al. A 55-day-old female infant infected with COVID 19: presenting with pneumonia, liver injury, and heart damage. J Infect Dis 2020. https://doi.org/10.1093/infdis/jiaa113	1	55 days	F	Case report	Inhaled interferon-α1b (15 μg, bid); amoxicillin potassium clavulanate (30 mg/kg, Q8H, ivgtt)	NA	NA	NA	Case report for infant patient Adverse events and outcomes not reported
11	Du et al. Clinical features of 85 fatal cases of COVID-19 from Wuhan: a retrospective observational study. SSRN 2020. https://ssrn.com/abstract=3546088	191	56	119 M 72 F	Retrospective, multi-centre cohort study	Antibiotic Antiviral (lopinavir and ritonavir) Corticosteroid IV immunoglobulin	Antibiotic: 181 (95%) Antiviral (lopinavir and ritonavir): 41 (21%) Corticosteroid: 57 (30%) IV immunoglobulin: 46 (24%)	181 (95%) patients received antibiotics: 53 (98%) died, 128 (93%) survived (P=0.15) 41 (21%) patients received antivirals: 12 (22%) died, 29 (21%) survived (P=0.87) 57 (30%) patients received corticosteroid: 26 (48%) died, 31 (23%) survived (P=0.0005) 46 (24%) patients received IV immunoglobulin: 36 (67%) died, 10 (7%) survived (P<0.0001) 54 patients died in hospital	Not reported	Lack of effective antivirals, inadequate adherence to standard supportive therapy, and high-dose corticosteroid use may also have contributed to the poor clinical outcomes in some patients
12	Gautret et al. Hydroxychloroquine and azithromycin as a treatment of COVID-19: results of an open-label non-randomized clinical trial. Int J Antimicrob Agents 2020:105949. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijantimicag.2020.105949	Treated: 20 Control: 16 Total: 36	45.1	15 M 21 other	Open label non- randomized clinical trial	Hydroxychloroquine and azithromycin	Hydroxychloroquine sulfate 200 mg, three times per day for 10 days	On day 6 post inclusion, 100% of patients treated with a combination of hydroxychloroquine and azithromycin were virologicaly cured, compared with 57.1% of patients treated with hydroxychloroquine alone and 12.5% of patients in the control group	One patient stopped treatment on day 3 post inclusion due to nausea	Clinical follow-up and occurrence of side-effects were not discussed
13	Guan et al. Clinical characteristics of coronavirus disease 2019 in China. N Engl J Med 2020. https://doi.org/10.1056/NEJMoa2002032	1099	47.9	41.1% F	Retrospective observational study	IV antibiotic Oseltamivir Antifungal Systemic glucocorticoid	Antibiotic: 637 (58%) Oseltamivir: 393 (35.8%) Antifungal: 31 (2.8%) Glucocorticoid: 204 (18.6%)	5.0% of patients were admitted to the ICU, 2.3% underwent invasive mechanical ventilation and 1.4% died among the 173 patients with severe disease	Not reported	Drug dose, frequency and duration were not included
14	Holshue et al. First case of 2019 novel coronavirus in the United States. N Engl J Med 2020. https://doi.org/10.1056/NEJMoa2001191	1	35	M	Case report	Antipyretic consisting of guaifenesin	650 mg 600 mg	Discharged with no symptoms	Not reported	This was only a single case study and does not represent the whole population As this was a case report, it is not certain that the positive impact on the patient's health was due to the medication taken Randomized controlled trials are needed
15	Huang et al. Clinical features of patients infected with 2019 novel coronavirus in Wuhan, China. Lancet 2020; 395:497–506.	41	49	30 M (73%) 11 F (27%)	Prospective collection and analysed data for patients with pneumonia	Antiviral: 38 (93%) Antibiotic: 41 (100%) Corticosteroid: 9 (22%)	Not mentioned	One patient was admitted to ICU Six patients died	Not reported	As the causative pathogen has just been identified, kinetics of viral load and antibody titres were not available at the time of the study
16	Huang et al. Early and critical care in severe patients with COVID-19 in Jiangsu Province, China: a descriptive study. 2020. https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-17397/v1	60	57	58.3% M 42.8% other	Multi-centre retrospective cohort study was conducted to extract and analyse epidemiological, clinical and laboratory data and treatment of 60 severe cases	Antiviral: 60 (100%) Abidor: 50 (83.3) Lopinavir/ritonavir: 41 (68.3) Interferon: 12 (20.0) Ribavirin: 7 (11.7) Oseltamivir: 2 (3.3) Fluoroquinolone: (61.7%)	34 patients (56.7%) received IV glucocorticoids at doses ranging from 40 to 80 mg/day 28 patients (46.7%) received immunoglobulin (IgG enriched) injections for 5–9 days of immunoregulation	50 patients improved significantly Two patients were discharged Eight patients remained in a serious condition	Four patients who developed secondary infections received glucocorticoids	Most drug doses, frequencies and durations were not included The effect of glucocorticoids was not significant
17	Huang et al. Clinical characteristics of 36 non-survivors with COVID-19 in Wuhan, China. medRxiv 2020. https://doi.org/10.1101/2020.02.27.20029009	36	69.22	25 M (69.44%) 11 F (30.56%)	Retrospective, single-centre study	Antibiotic: 36 (100%) Antiviral: 35 (97.22%) Glucocorticoid: 25 (69.44%)	Not mentioned	All patients died	All patients died	Drug dose, frequency and duration were not included
18	Jian-ya G. Clinical characteristics of 51 patients discharged from hospital with COVID-19 in Chongqing, China. medRxiv 2020. https://doi.org/10.1101/2020.02.20.20025536	51	45	32 M (62.7%) 19 F (37.3%)	Retrospective, single-centre case series	Oseltamivir (oral): 7 (13.7%) Interferon (oral): 51 (100%) Kaletra (oral): 51 (100%) Thymopentin (IM): 48 (94.1%) Traditional Chinese medicine decoction (oral): 28 (54.9%) Reduling (IV): 30 (58.8%) Xuebijing (IV): 2 (3.9%)	Not mentioned	One patient died with shock complications	Six patients had an obvious decline in appetite .	Drug dose, frequency and duration were not included
19	Liang et al. Clinical characteristics of 457 cases with coronavirus disease 2019. Available at SSRN. 2020. https://doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.3543581	457	Varies	267 M (58%) 9 pregnant women (2%)	Systematic review	Antiviral: 352 (77%) Antibacterial: 258 (56%) Glucocorticoid: 130 (28%)	Not mentioned	195 patients improved and were discharged	35 patients died	Drug dose, frequency and duration were not included
20	Liao et al. Epidemiological and clinical characteristics of COVID-19 in adolescents and young adults. medRxiv 2020. https://doi.org/10.1101/2020.03.10.20032136	46	Not mentioned because they were two groups	17 M (53.1) 15 F (46.9)	Retrospective case series data	Antiviral: 46 (100.0%) Antifungal: 5 (10.9%) Glucocorticoid	Not mentioned	78.3% of patients were discharged	Three patients developed acute kidney injury during treatment	At the end of this study, nearly 20% of the patients were still hospitalized
21	Lim et al. Case of the index patient who caused tertiary transmission of coronavirus disease 2019 in Korea: the application of lopinavir/ritonavir for the treatment of COVID-19 pneumonia monitored by quantitative RT-PCR. J Korean Med Sci 2020; 35. https://doi.org/10.3346/jkms.2020.35.e79	1	54	M	Case report	Lopinavir/ritonavir	200 mg 50 mg (two tablets bid)	Reduced viral load and improved clinical symptoms	The patient also complained of psychiatric symptoms such as depression, insomnia and suicidal thoughts after isolation	This was a single case and does not represent the whole population Randomized controlled trials are needed
22	Liu et al. Patients of COVID-19 may benefit from sustained lopinavir-combined regimen and the increase of eosinophil may predict the outcome of COVID-19 progression. Int J Infect Dis 2020. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijid.2020.03.013	10	42	6 F 4 other	Retrospective observational single-centre study	Lopinavir, Interferon-α2b atomization inhalation	400 mg every twelve hours	Oeosinophil counts presented potential as predictor of the development of COVID-19 Seven patients were discharged Three patients stopped lopinavir: two deteriorated and one was hospitalized for longer than other patients who continued taking lopinavir	Digestive adverse effect and hypokalaemia	Small sample size
23	Liu et al. Epidemiological, clinical characteristics and outcome of medical staff infected with COVID-19 in Wuhan, China: a retrospective case series analysis. medRxiv 2020. https://doi.org/10.1101/2020.03.09.20033118	64	35 (29–43)	23 M 41 F	Single centre- retrospective-observational study	Immunoglobulin Thymosin Corticosteroid	Antibody: 23 Hormone: 33 Steroid hormone: 7	34 patients were discharged 30 patients were still hospitalized	Not reported	Preliminary insight into epidemiological features and clinical outcomes Single centre
24	Liu et al. Detection of COVID-19 in children in early January 2020 in Wuhan, China. N Engl J Med 2020. https://doi.org/10.1056/NEJMc2003717	Six	3 (1–7)	2 M 4 F	Retrospective case series analysis	Ribavirin Oseltamivir Glucocorticoid IV immunoglobulin	Antiviral: 2 Antiviral: 6 Steroid hormone: 4 Antibody: 1	Six patients recovered	Not reported	Small sample size
25	Liu et al. Clinical features and progression of acute respiratory distress syndrome in coronavirus disease 2019. medRxiv 2020. https://doi.org/10.1101/2020.02.17.20024166	109	55	59 M 50 F	Retrospective case series analysis	Glucocorticoid IV immunoglobulin	Steroid hormone: 43 Antibody: 32 Antibiotic: 105 Antiviral: 105	31 patients died	Not reported	This study did not mention the names of the therapeutic treatment used among patients with ARDS
26	Lo et al. Evaluation of SARS-CoV-2 RNA shedding in clinical specimens and clinical characteristics of 10 patients with COVID-19 in Macau. Int J Biol Sci 2020; 16:1698–707. https://doi.org/10.7150/ijbs.45357	10	54 (27–64)	3 M 1 teenager 6 other	Retrospective case series analysis	Lopinavir Ritonavir	Antiviral: 10	Five patients were discharged Five patients were still hospitalized	Not reported	Small sample size, so difficult to draw a definite conclusion Single centre Half of the enrolled patients were still hospitalized at the time of submission of this paper. Therefore, there may have been bias regarding the prognosis of the patients
27	Mo et al. Clinical characteristics of refractory COVID-19 pneumonia in Wuhan, China. Clin Infect Dis 2020. https://doi.org/10.1093/cid/ciaa270	155	54 (42–66)	86 M 69 other	Single-centre, retrospective case series analysis	Arbidol Lopinavir and ritonavir Interferon inhalation Immune enhancer	Antiviral: 31 Antiviral: 27 Antiviral: 30 Immune enhancer: 14	22 patients died	Not reported	Selection bias may have occurred, and a large-scale nationwide study is needed
28	Wang et al. Clinical characteristics of 138 hospitalized patients with 2019 novel coronavirus-infected pneumonia in Wuhan, China. JAMA 2020. https://doi.org/10.1001/jama.2020.1585	138	56 (42–68)	75 M 63 F	Retrospective, single-centre case series	Oseltamivir Moxifloxcain Ceftriaxone Azithromycin Glucocorticoid	Antiviral: 124 Antibacterial: 89 Antibacterial: 34 Antibacterial: 25 Glucocorticoid: 62	47 patients were discharged Six patients died 85 patients were still hospitalized	Not reported	Most patients were still hospitalized at the time of manuscript submission. Therefore, there may have been bias regarding the prognosis of the patients.
29	Wang et al. Clinical features of 69 cases with coronavirus disease 2019 in Wuhan, China. Clin Infect Dis 2020. https://doi.org/10.1093/cid/ciaa272	69	42 (35–62)	32 M 37 F	Retrospective case series	-	Antiviral: 66 Antibiotic: 66 Antifungal: 8 Corticosteroid: 10 Arbidol: 36	44 patients were still hospitalized 18 patients were discharged Five patients died	Not reported	Drug dose, frequency and duration were not included
30	Wu et al. Heart injury signs are associated with higher and earlier mortality in coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). medRxiv 2020. https://doi.org/10.1101/2020.02.26.20028589	188	52	119 M 69 other	Retrospective cohort study	-	Antibiotic: 185 Antiviral: 158 Corticosteroid: 59	43 patients died 145 patients were discharged 12 patients were still hospitalized	Not reported	Drug dose, frequency and duration were not included
31	Wu F et al. A new coronavirus associated with human respiratory disease in China. Nature 2020; 579:265–9.	1	41	M	Epidemiological investigations	Antiviral Antibiotic Glucocorticoid Oxygen	Oseltamivir Cefoselis Not mentioned Mechanical ventilation	Recovered	Not reported	Applicable
32	Xu et al. Clinical characteristics of SARS-CoV-2 pneumonia compared to controls in Chinese Han population. medRxiv 2020. https://doi.org/10.1101/2020.03.08.20031658	Patients: 69 Controls: 14,117	57	50.7% M 49.3% F	Retrospective, multi-centre case series	Antiviral Antibiotic Oxygen	Oseltamivir: 38 (55.1%) Moxifloxacin, ceftriaxone, azithromycin, tigecycline or linezolid: 31 (44.9%) Mechanical ventilation: 2 Invasive ventilator: 2	Three patients were discharged One patient recovered One patient died	Six patients with a significant increase in IL6 were also treated with methylprednisolone	Applicable
33	Xu et al. Clinical findings in critical ill patients infected with SARS-CoV-2 in Guangdong Province, China: a multi-center, retrospective, observational study. medRxiv 2020. https://doi.org/10.1101/2020.03.03.20030668	45	56.7	29 M (64.4%) 16 F (35.6%)	Multi-centre, retrospective, observational study	Antiviral: 45 (100) patients Antibacterial: 45 (100) Antifungal: 19 (42.2) Convalescent plasma: 6 (13.3) Glucocorticoid: 21 (46.7) Immunoglobulin: 28 (62.2) Albumin: 35 (77.8)	Osehamivir ribavirin Not mentioned Not mentioned Not mentioned Not mentioned Not mentioned Not mentioned	23 (51.1%) patients were discharged from the ICU 11 (24.2%) patients were discharged One (2.2%) patient died	37 (82.2%) patients developed ARDS and 13 (28.9%) patients developed septic shock 20 (44.4%) patients required intubation and nine (20%) patients required extracorporeal membrane oxygenation	At the time of study submission, half of the patients had not been discharged from the ICU; as such, it was difficult to estimate ICU stay, ventilation-free days, case fatality rate and the predictors of fatality Drug dose, frequency and duration were not included
34	Xu et al. Clinical findings in a group of patients infected with the 2019 novel coronavirus (SARS-Cov-2) outside of Wuhan, China: retrospective case series. BMJ 2020; 368:m606.	62	41	35 M (56%) 27 F (44%)	Retrospective study	Antiviral: 55 (89%) Antibiotic Corticosteroid and gamma globulin	Interferon-α inhalation: 8 (13%) Lopinavir/ritonavir: 4 (6%) Arbidol + interferon-α inhalation: 1 (2%) Lopinavir/ritonavir + interferon-α inhalation: 21 (34%) Arbidol + lopinavir/ritonavir: 17 (28%) Arbidol + lopinavir/ritonavir + interferon-α inhalation: 4 (6%) 28 (45%) 16 (26%)	No deaths	Not reported	At the time of study submission, most patients had not been discharged, so it was difficult to estimate the case fatality rate or the predictors of fatality
35	Xu et al. Pathological findings of COVID-19 associated with acute respiratory distress syndrome. Lancet Respir Med 2020. https://doi.org/10.1016/S2213-2600(20)30076-X	1	50	M	Postmortem biopsies	Antiviral Antibiotic Corticosteroid	Interferon-α2b atomization Lopinavir + ritonavir Moxifloxacin Methylprednisolone	Died due to cardiac arrest	Chest x-ray showed progressive infiltrate and diffuse gridding shadow in both lungs. Hypoxaemia and shortness of breath worsened and patient had sudden cardiac arrest	This was a single case study and does not represent the whole population The patient refused ventilator support in the ICU repeatedly because he suffered from claustrophobia; therefore, he received high-flow nasal cannula There is a need for randomized controlled trials
36	Yang et al. Clinical course and outcomes of critically ill patients with SARS-CoV-2 pneumonia in Wuhan, China: a single-centered, retrospective, observational study. Lancet Respir Med 2020. https://doi.org/10.1016/S2213-2600(20)30079-5	52	59.7	35 M (67%) 17 F (33%)	Single-centre retrospective, observational study	Vasoconstrictor Antiviral: 23 (44%) Antibacterial Glucocorticoid Immunoglobulin	18 (35%) Oseltamivir: 18 (35%) Ganciclovir: 14 (27%) Lopinavir: 7 (13.5%). 49 (94%) 30 (58%) 28 (54%)	32 (61.5%) patients died	Not reported	Due to the exploratory nature of the study, which was not driven by formal hypotheses, the sample size calculation was waived The researchers acknowledged that some specific information from the ICU was missing, such as mechanical ventilation settings Drug dose, frequency and duration were not included
37	Young et al. Epidemiologic features and clinical course of patients infected with SARS-CoV-2 in Singapore. JAMA 2020. https://doi.org/10.1001/jama.2020.3204	18	47	9 M (50%) 9 F (50%)	Descriptive case series	Antiretroviral Antiviral Antibiotic	Lopinavir/ritonavir Oseltamivir Not reported	No deaths	Not reported	Small sample size Drug dose, frequency and duration were not included
38	Zhang et al. Clinical characteristics of 82 death cases with COVID-19. medRxiv 2020. https://doi.org/10.1101/2020.02.26.20028191	82	72.5	65.9% M	Death cases	Antiviral Antibiotic Corticosteroid	82 (100%) 82 (100%) 29 (35.3%)		Not reported	The study was performed in one setting. No information was given about the hospital's capabilities in terms of personnel or equipment because the mortality rate from this centre was a little higher than other centres Traditional Chinese medicine was given Drug dose, frequency and duration were not included
39	Zhang et al. Clinical features and outcomes of 221 patients with COVID-19 in Wuhan, China. medRxiv 2020. https://doi.org/10.1101/2020.03.02.20030452	221	55	108 M (48.9%) 113 F (51.1%)	Retrospective case study	Antiviral: 196 (88.7%) Antibiotic Corticosteroid: 115 (52.0%)	Oseltamivir Arbidol hydrochloride Interferon-α atomization inhalation Lopinavir/ritonavir Moxifloxacin hydrochloride Piperacillin sodium tazobactam sodium Cefoperazone sulbactam Glucocorticoid: 64 (49.6%)	12 (5.4%) patients died	Not reported	The dose and duration of IV glucocorticoid treatment showed no difference in symptomatic relief and death Drug dose, frequency and duration were not included
40	Zhang et al. The potential role of IL-6 in monitoring coronavirus disease 2019. https://doi.org/10.1101/2020.03.01.20029769	80	53	46 F (57.5%) 34 M (42.5%)	Data collection (clinical data from patients with COVID-19 diagnosed by laboratory test in study institution) Observation of clinical manifestation	Antibiotic: 73 (91.25%) Oseltamivir: 20 (25%) Ribavirin, ganciclovir or peramivir: 47 (58.75%) Arbidol: 49 (61.25%) Antifungal: 10 (12.5%) IV immunoglobin: 36 (45%) Corticosteroid: 29 (36·25%)	Not mentioned	IL-6 may be used as a biomarker for disease monitoring in severe cases of COVID-19	Not reported	Drug dose, frequency and duration were not included IL-6 and the pathogenesis of COVID-19 remains elusive
41	Zhou et al. Clinical course and risk factors for mortality of adult inpatients with COVID-19 in Wuhan, China: a retrospective cohort study. Lancet 2020. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0140-6736(20)30566-3	191	56	119 M (62%) 72 F (38%)	Retrospective cohort study	Antibiotic: 181 (95%) Antiviral: 41 (21%) Corticosteroid: 57 (30%) IV immunoglobin: 46 (24%)	Lopinavir/ritonavir	137 patients were discharged 54 patients died	191 patients	There was no observation of a shortening of the duration of viral shedding after lopinavir/ritonavir treatment Drug dose, frequency and duration were not included

COVID-19, coronavirus disease 2019; SARS-CoV-2, severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus-2; ICU, intensive care unit; ARDS, acute respiratory distress syndrome; IL-6, interleukin-6; NA, not applicable; IV, intravenous; IM, intramuscular.