The European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) answers the public’s questions on Covid-19.
Q: Is there a treatment for the COVID-19 disease?
A: There is no specific treatment or vaccine for this disease.
Healthcare providers are mostly using a symptomatic approach, meaning they treat the symptoms rather than target the virus, and provide supportive care (e.g. oxygen therapy, fluid management) for infected persons, which can be highly effective.
In severe and critically ill patients, a number of drugs are being tried to target the virus, but the use of these need to be more carefully assessed in randomised controlled trials. Several clinical trials are ongoing to assess their effectiveness but results are not yet available.
As this is a new virus, no vaccine is currently available. Although work on a vaccine has already started by several research groups and pharmaceutical companies worldwide, it may be months to more than a year before a vaccine has been tested and is ready for use in humans.
Source: European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC)
