Bioethical dilemmas during the Covid-19 pandemic: triage of patients for admission in the Intensive Care Units

The COVID-19 pandemic overwhelms health care systems and especially Intensive Care Units (ICUs). When demand for ICU beds exceeds supply, triage becomes necessary, i.e. the physician is asked to decide which patients will be admitted to the ICU and which will not. We present the suggested triage criteria along with their ethical foundations and limitations. The main issue is whether, besides the prognosis of acute disorder, prognosis of chronic underlying diseases and/or age should also be considered. Many European countries have launched relevant guidelines that differ from each other.