Doctors can better handle common and serious complications like blood clots. They realized that patients do better if they aren't lying on their backs all the time. … And while no medicine can cure COVID-19, a series of studies showed that steroids can benefit the sickest patients. … The trend in improving survival has been documented in intensive care units around the world. Even so, people treated in the ICU for COVID-19 are at higher risk of death than is the case for other viral lung diseases.