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Some critically ill COVID-19 patients choosing to die at home rather than on a ventilator (National Post)

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ICU anaesthesia ventilator workstation in the emergency room in stand by mode.

A number of elderly patients have died in long-term care homes rather than submit to intensive therapy that might have only made their passing more painful.

It is the worst-case scenario of the COVID-19 pandemic: so many seriously ill patients that doctors have to decide who gets access to a limited number of intensive-care beds and ventilators.

And who is deprived of the potentially life-saving treatment.

But as the number of Canadians made critically ill by the virus ticks up, some patients or their families are actually foregoing entirely the often-harrowing treatment afforded by ICUs and breathing machines…

To read the entire article from National Post, click https://nationalpost.com/health/some-critically-ill-covid-19-patients-choosing-to-die-at-home-rather-be-treated-with-ventilator-in-icu?video_autoplay=true