Joint recommendations for the clinical management of SARS-CoV-2 infection and COVID-19 disease

Version March 13, 2020

Abstract

The world is facing an emerging infectious disease from a new pathogen belonging to the coronavirus family. In recent months, the new virus called SARS-CoV-2, the cause of the COVID-19 disease, has expanded worldwide with highly efficient transmission and a fatality rate higher than that of seasonal influenza. On January 30 last, the World Health Organization (WHO) declared this situation as a Public Health Emergency of International Importance (PHEIC) and on March 11 it declared a pandemic.
Currently, beyond the initial outbreak in China, originating in Wuhan, outbreaks have emerged in other countries where sustained community transmission is evident, such as in Iran, Italy, Japan, France, Spain, Germany, South Korea and Singapore. In the current scenario, cases have been diagnosed in almost a hundred countries, including countries in the region.
On our continent, dispersion is expected to accelerate in the coming weeks.
The working group with members of scientific societies and chairs of the Faculty of Medicine of the University of the Republic (Udelar) elaborated the current recommendations with the aim of complementing the directives given to the general population, health personnel and providers from the Ministry of Public Health (MSP) and international organizations.
The document contains generalities about COVID-19, population prevention measures and health personnel, as well as recommendations for the clinical management of patients. The handling of contacts during the incubation period is not considered in these recommendations, for this we suggest referring to the contingency plan of the MSP. However, we recommend those asymptomatic persons who enter the country from areas with sustained circulation or who have been the contact of confirmed cases of COVID-19, to carry out voluntary quarantine for 14 days from contact.