The antiviral drug remdesivir and corticosteroids were linked to better outcomes in COVID-19 patients admitted directly to a hospital ward in the Netherlands, suggests a real-world study published today in Open Forum Infectious Diseases. The nationwide study, led by University of Amsterdam researchers, involved 5,643 COVID-19 patients admitted to 11 hospitals during four pandemic waves, from Feb 27, 2020, to Dec 31, 2021. Patients received remdesivir, corticosteroids, the antimalarial drug hydroxychloroquine, immune-suppressing interleukin-6 (IL-6) antagonists, or combinations thereof; intensive care unit (ICU) patients didn't receive remdesivir. Hydroxychloroquine was associated with an increased risk of death (HR, 1.54), and the results of IL-6 antagonists were inconclusive. In patients admitted directly to an ICU, hydroxychloroquine, corticosteroids, and IL-6 antagonists weren't tied to a lower risk of death or hospital release alive.