THE QUESTION. Although many gray areas persist around Covid-19 disease, doctors now know that approximately 5% of those infected will develop acute respiratory failure requiring hospitalization in intensive care. In the absence of effective treatment, resuscitation beds, equipped with respiratory assistance machines, represent the only chance for these patients to pass the course of the disease.
Read also: Coronavirus: is France following a better or worse trajectory than the other countries?
But in recent weeks, many doctors practicing in northern Italy or eastern France have testified to the need to “ sort ” patients in order to choose those who would be eligible for this care. Age is an important criterion, but are people over 75 really excluded automatically as is sometimes implied?
CHECK. " Sorting patients is a choice we have to make on a daily basis, even outside a crisis like this ," said Dr. Damien Barraud, resuscitator at the Hospital Center, straight away.
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