Clinical management of COVID-19: living guideline, June 2025
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World Health Organization
Abstract
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149 p.
This living guideline provides evidence-informed recommendations for the clinical management of COVID-19 across the full continuum of care, including screening, diagnosis, acute management, rehabilitation and post COVID-19 condition. It is intended for clinicians, allied health professionals, health facility managers and others involved in the care of patients with COVID-19. The document reflects the evolving epidemiology of SARS-CoV-2, changing disease severity patterns, increasing population immunity and integration of COVID-19 care into routine health systems. It includes guidance for non-severe, severe and critical disease, multisystem inflammatory syndrome in children, care during pregnancy, management of older people, rehabilitation, palliative care and infection prevention and control. The June 2025 update introduces new recommendations regarding the use of empirical antibiotics in patients with COVID-19 and low clinical suspicion of bacterial co-infection, informed by recent systematic reviews and meta-analyses and concerns related to antimicrobial resistance. The guideline also revises and removes recommendations no longer considered specific or relevant to COVID-19 management. Recommendations were developed through WHO guideline procedures using the GRADE approach and are designed to be regularly updated as new evidence becomes available.
This living guideline provides evidence-informed recommendations for the clinical management of COVID-19 across the full continuum of care, including screening, diagnosis, acute management, rehabilitation and post COVID-19 condition. It is intended for clinicians, allied health professionals, health facility managers and others involved in the care of patients with COVID-19. The document reflects the evolving epidemiology of SARS-CoV-2, changing disease severity patterns, increasing population immunity and integration of COVID-19 care into routine health systems. It includes guidance for non-severe, severe and critical disease, multisystem inflammatory syndrome in children, care during pregnancy, management of older people, rehabilitation, palliative care and infection prevention and control. The June 2025 update introduces new recommendations regarding the use of empirical antibiotics in patients with COVID-19 and low clinical suspicion of bacterial co-infection, informed by recent systematic reviews and meta-analyses and concerns related to antimicrobial resistance. The guideline also revises and removes recommendations no longer considered specific or relevant to COVID-19 management. Recommendations were developed through WHO guideline procedures using the GRADE approach and are designed to be regularly updated as new evidence becomes available.
Keywords
COVID-19, Betacoronavirus, Disease Outbreaks, Clinical Medicine, Patient Care Management, Clinical Protocols, Respiratory Distress Syndrome, Post-Acute COVID-19 Syndrome, Persistent Infection, Palliative Care, Maternal Health Services, Pregnancy Complications, Infectiou, Clinical Laboratory Techniques, Guideline, epidemiology, diagnosis, therapy, etiology, complications