Antimalarials and corticosteroids should not be administered to Australian patients with COVID-19 outside of clinical trials, according to new national guidelines.

Peak Australian health professional bodies, led by the National COVID-19 Clinical Evidence Taskforce, have drafted a suite of evidence-based recommendations in the first consensus national guidelines for COVID-19 care.

The draft guidelines, published on Saturday, await approval by the NHMRC and were developed in collaboration with seven medical colleges, including the RACGP and RACP.

Taskforce chair Associate Professor Julian Elliott says the ‘living guidelines’ will be updated weekly, based on expert panel reviews, functioning as a one-stop shop for frontline clinicians.