Elderly coronavirus patients transferred to ICU less: report

Fewer elderly patients with the coronavirus are being transferred to intensive care units. In March over a third of Covid-19 patients in ICU were older than 70, in April that dropped to a quarter, newspaper Trouw reports based on figures from ICU foundation NICE and public health institute RIVM.

These figures showed that on March 23rd, 41 percent of new coronavirus patients admitted to hospital were 75 years old or older. On April 8th and 16th, this was less than 30 percent. In March the largest group of coronavirus patients in ICU were between the ages of 70 and 75, in April most patients were between the ages of 60 and 65.

Of the over 1 thousand people over the age of 80 hospitalized with the coronavirus over the past two months, only a few dozen were transferred to ICU.

According to the newspaper, the decrease likely has to do with the fact that sick elderly people are now being treated at home more often. Since March 27, doctors have been working according to a new guideline regarding hospital admissions for elderly coronavirus patients. It is more often discussed with the patient and their family whether a hospital admission will be worthwhile, Trouw wrote.

"There is now sharper selection at the gate," Marcel Olde Rikkert, professor of geriatrics at the Radboud UMC in Nijmegen said tot he newspaper. "Sick and frail older people stay home more often and eventually receive oxygen and medicines there."