Overwhelmed doctors will be given new guidelines to help them decide which coronavirus victims should potentially live or die if they run out of intensive care beds or ventilators.
The criteria – expected to be issued on Saturday – are a recognition that hospitals are likely to be faced with terrible choices in the weeks to come and cannot be expected to make them alone.
They will cover patients with conditions including respiratory disease, cancer, heart disease and diabetes, although it is unclear whether they will also set an age limit above which treatment could be withdrawn.
Potentially, it could also see a patient already on a ventilator removed to allow someone with a greater chance of survival to take his or her place
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