LAUSR

A few days after the SARS-CoV-2 infection was declared a pandemic, the German Society for Rheumatology (DGRh) has compiled a first group of recommendations for the care of patients with inflammatory rheumatic diseases in light of SARS-CoV-2/COVID-19. These first recommendations were based on an expert consensus and were largely "non-evidence-based". Now that the first scientific data from registries, cross-sectional studies, case reports and case series are available, the DGRh developed a timely update. This update is based on a literature search of publications available up to June 15th, 2020 and addresses preventive measures (such as hygiene measures or vaccinations) and the use of immunomodulatory/immunosuppressive drugs. Driven by the commitment to let patients benefit from the new, first evidence-based recommendations as quickly as possible, the DGRh published the update in German on its homepage and in the Zeitschrift für Rheumatologie immediately after completion. Here, we report the key recommendations to make this recommendation available also for the international community, provide the scientific methodology used to develop the recommendations, give additional thoughts and advices for the management of patients with rheumatic diseases during the COVID-19 pandemic, and discuss our recommendations in the context of other international recommendations.