Corticosteroids confer powerful anti-inflammatory effects and hence may ameliorate inflammation-mediated lung injury, thus preventing progression to respiratory failure and death. In an observational study, the use of methylprednisolone was found to be associated with a markedly lower risk of mortality in patients with COVID-19 who had developed acute respiratory distress syndrome [92]. In an echo of these findings, a recent clinical trial recruiting hospitalized patients with COVID-19 showed that the oral or intravenous administration of dexamethasone (6 mg·d–1) for up to 10 d resulted in a markedly lower 28-day mortality in comparison with the control group among patients receiving invasive mechanical ventilation at randomization or receiving oxygen without invasive mechanical ventilation [93]. The benefit was also clear in patients who were being treated more than 7 d after symptom onset, when inflammatory lung damage became more prominent. However, no significant effects were observed among patients not receiving any respiratory support, which was in line with the findings from a recent meta-analysis [94].