Abbreviations 2019-nCoV 2019 novel coronavirus ALT Alanine aminotransferase ARDS Acute respiratory distress syndrome AST Aspartate aminotransferase CCEBTCM China Center for Evidence Based Traditional Chinese Medicine CDC Centers for Disease Control and Prevention CK Creatine kinase CPAM China International Exchange and Promotive Association for Medical and Health Care CPAP Continuous positive airway pressure CRP C-reactive protein CRRT Continuous renal replacement therapies DIC Disseminated intravascular coagulation ECLS Extracorporeal life support ECMO Extracorporeal membrane oxygenation ESR Erythrocyte sedimentation rate GRADE Grading of Recommendations Assessment, Development and Evaluation HFNO High flow nasal oxygen therapy HFOV High-frequency oscillatory ventilation HRCT High-resolution computed tomography ICU Intensive Care Unit IL Interleukin MAP Mean arterial pressure MERS Middle East respiratory syndrome NGS Next generation sequencing NICE National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence NIV Non-invasive ventilation PCT Procalcitonin PEEP Positive end-expiratory pressure PLT Platelet RCTs Randomized controlled trials SARS Severe acute respiratory syndrome SBT Spontaneous breathing test TB tuberculosis TNF Tumor Necrosis Factor WBC White blood cells WHO World Health Organization Except the first and corresponding authors, the rest of authors were alphabetized by their last name and contributed equally. Supplementary information Supplementary information accompanies this paper at 10.1186/s40779-020-0233-6. Acknowledgements The authors thank all the staff of the Novel Coronavirus Management and Research Team in Zhongnan Hospital of Wuhan University, all the authors for their hard work for the included evidences in this guideline, and the staff of the Military Medical Research editorial office for their hard work. We also thank Hao Chen’s help, the college of Acupuncture and Chinese Tuina, Nanjing University of Chinese Medicine. Authors’ contributions WXH, WYY, HLQ, ZXT, ZY and LLK composed the Consultant/Advisor’s panel. CL, CZS, CH, FYP, HB, HF, LYR, LK, MJ, PYB, PZY, PZY, SHM, WCJ, WDF, XJ, XY, XHB, YYF, YTS, ZXC, ZYW, ZYG, and ZHM composed the Consensus experts’ panel. DT, FC, HD, HQ, LBH, LLS, MLL, WYY, WH, ZMJ and ZH composed the Evidences synthesis panel. JYH, YXM (Canada) and RXQ were the methodologists. WY and HY were the secretaries. JYH, ZXT and the members of the evidences synthesis panel drafted the manuscript. All authors read and approved the final manuscript. Funding This work was supported (in part) by the Entrusted Project of National Center for Medical Service Administration, National Health and Family Planning Commission China (No. [2019]099), the First Level Funding of the Second Medical Leading Talent Project in Hubei Province, and the Special Project for Emergency of the Ministry of Science and Technology (2020YFC0841300). Availability of data and materials The data and materials used during the current review are all available in this review. Ethics approval and consent to participate Not applicable. Consent for publication Written informed consent for publication of the clinical details and clinical images was obtained from all patients. A copy of the consent form is available for review by the Editor of this journal. Competing interests The funder had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript. The authors declare that there are no conflicts of interest in this study.