Senior Israeli physician Professor Idit Matot has stated that 40% of number of patients considered critically ill by the World Health Organization (WHO) are not treated as such at Ichilov Hospital in Tel Aviv.
"In the first corona wave, critically ill patients were those defined as those who required extra assistance, such as intubation, in addition to an oxygen mask. The latest criteria of WHO define someone as critically ill whose blood oxygen level falls below a certain level," Dr. Matot said.
"At Ichilov Hospital, 40% of those who fit WHO's new definition of critically ill do not require treatment as such," the doctor added.