Design and participants
infectious disease, dyspnea
INFECTIOUS DISEASE, INFILTRATES
This randomized clinical trial (RCT) was conducted at Besat hospital, a major referral center east of Tehran, Iran. We enrolled patients above 18 years old with confirmed COVID-19 referring to the infectious disease clinic of the hospital. The confirmation of COVID-19 diagnosis was performed using polymerase chain reaction (PCR) by an infectious disease specialist. Only outpatients with primarily mild to moderate COVID-19 whose onset of symptoms was under 1 week were eligible. The presence of severe COVID-19 symptoms was evaluated by the infectious disease specialist and included dyspnea, SpO2 < 94% on room air, PaO2/FiO2 < 300 mm Hg, a respiratory rate > 30 breaths/min, and lung infiltrates > 50% [