Arbidol combined with LPV/r versus LPV/r alone against Corona Virus Disease 2019:a retrospective cohort study

•Patients were given oral arbidol and LPV/r in the combination group and oral LPV/r only in the monotherapy group for 5–21 days.•Our study shows that oral arbidol and LPV/r in the combination group is associated with a significant elevated negative conversion rate of coronavirus’ test in 7-day and 14-day, compared with LPV/r only in the monotherapy group.•Combination therapy is associated with a significantly improved the chest CT scans in 7-day.•We suppose that reducing the viral load as soon as possible could benefit the delay of the progression of lung lesions.