People considered vulnerable are those aged 60 years and older, as well as people with pre-existing conditions like diabetes, cardiovascular disease and chronic respiratory diseases.

Pro Senectute Schweiz, an organization for the elderly, blasted the advice, which they labeled "excessive." They also said that the advice was premature, especially given how the country's ICU capacity is not currently at risk of running out of beds, contrary to what physicians claim.

However, the Swiss Society for Intensive Care Medicine (SGI) insisted that individuals particularly susceptible to the coronavirus should put their wishes on paper should they contract the disease and lose the ability to talk to medical staff.

In a statement, the SGI said that signing end-of-life orders will support both the patients and the medical staff in the ICU.

A call for responsibility, not sacrifice

A DNR order is a medical order written by a physician and signed by a patient. It instructs healthcare workers not to perform cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) if a patient's breathing stops or if the heart stops beating.