UK doctors are told they may have to prioritize coronavirus patients with a 'higher survival probability' even if it means taking ventilators from someone who is improving

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Stabling coronavirus patients in the UK could be taken off ventilators and other treatment if another patient with a "higher survival probability" also needs it during shortages.

The British Medical Association, the professional union for doctors in the UK, told doctors they may have to make "grave decisions" if hospitals become overwhelmed.

"It is possible that serious health needs may outstrip availability ... Health professionals may be obliged to withdraw treatment from some patients to enable treatment of other patients with a higher survival probability," the BMA said.

Death from the virus have surged in the UK, with its highest-ever death toll of 563 recorded on Wednesday.

The government is racing to manufacture a promised 30,000 more ventilators, but as of Wednesday only 30 had been made, according to The Guardian.

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UK doctors may have to prioritize healthier coronavirus patients if hospitals are overwhelmed, even if it means taking treatment and medical equipment away from someone who is recovering.

The ethics committee of the British Medical Association BMA the professional union for doctors in the UK sent guidance on Wednesday about the "grave decisions" doctors may have to make between patients in case of shortages.See the rest of the story at Business InsiderSee Also:Spain recorded 950 coronavirus deaths in a day, the highest single-day toll of any countryNYC's paramedics are stretched so thin by the coronavirus that they are told to leave heart attack sufferers at home if they can't get a pulse at the scenePhotos inside NHS Nightingale, the 4,000-bed makeshift coronavirus hospital in London that took 9 days to build

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