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The SARS-CoV-2 (COVID-19) pandemic leads to severe shortages of intensive care unit (ICU) facilities in many countries. Although most people appear to be asymptomatic, some reports suggest that 5 to 25% of infected people require hospitalization and 2–4% require mechanical ventilation [1]. This strains many ICUs beyond their maximum capacity. National critical care societies have adopted protocols to increase their beds up to 200% or more. However, although a lot of effort can be done to increase the ICU capacity, demand may still outpace the supply. As a consequence, a scenario can arise in which not every patient who needs ICU treatment can be admitted, and difficult decisions about allocation of ICU beds need to be made [2–4]. In this article, we discuss the use of age as a criterion for ICU treatment in times of scarce ICU capacity by contrasting it with deciding under normal conditions.

Should we deny ICU admission to the elderly? Ethical considerations in times of COVID-19