COVID-19, caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) was first recognised in late 2019, with over 30 000 000 cases and over 1 000 000 deaths reported by the end of September 2020. SARS-CoV-2 infection is usually associated with fever, cough, coryza, dyspnoea, anosmia, headache and fatigue and may cause pneumonia and hypoxemia. An excessive/dysregulated inflammatory response may lead to lung damage including acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS), coagulopathy and other complications. Mortality amongst hospitalised patients is higher in those needing intensive care. In Australia over 27 000 cases with 882 deaths had been reported by 30 September, most in Victoria. Two therapies have proven beneficial in treatment of hospitalised patients in expedited randomised placebo-controlled trials and are now in widespread use. Dexamethasone improved survival of those requiring respiratory support and the antiviral agent remdesivir decreased time to recovery in mild-moderate disease. Remdesivir was authorised by the Australian Therapeutic Goods Administration in July 2020. Over 200 other therapeutics are being tested for COVID-19 in more than 2000 clinical trials, and many more agents are in preclinical development. We review the evidence for some of the candidates for therapy in COVID-19.

由严重急性呼吸系统综合症冠状病毒2（SARS-CoV-2）引起的COVID-19于2019年底首次被发现，到2020年9月底，报告的病例超过30000000例，死亡超过1000万人。SARS-CoV- 2感染通常与发烧，咳嗽，鼻炎，呼吸困难，失眠，头痛和疲劳有关，并可能引起肺炎和低氧血症。过度/失调的炎症反应可能导致肺损伤，包括急性呼吸窘迫综合征（ARDS），凝血病和其他并发症。需要重症监护的患者中，住院患者的死亡率更高。到9月30日，澳大利亚已报告了2.7万多例病例，其中882人死亡，其中大部分在维多利亚州。在加速的随机安慰剂对照试验中，两种疗法已证明对住院患者的治疗有益，目前已广泛使用。地塞米松改善了需要呼吸支持者的生存，抗病毒药物瑞昔韦减少了中度-中度疾病的恢复时间。Remdesivir于2020年7月获得澳大利亚治疗商品管理局（Australian Therapeutic Goods Administration）的授权。正在200多项临床试验中对200多种其他治疗剂进行COVID-19的测试，并且还有更多的药物正在临床前开发中。我们审查了COVID-19中某些候选治疗的证据。还有更多的药物正在临床前开发中。我们审查了COVID-19中某些候选治疗的证据。还有更多的药物正在临床前开发中。我们审查了COVID-19中某些候选治疗的证据。