Updates are available Correction dated 2021-07-26

Article History

Received: 17 November 2020

Accepted: 26 November 2020

First Online: 7 December 2020

Change Date: 22 July 2021

Change Type: Update

Change Details: Following publication, the authors have flagged inappropriate sentences for removal; please see the linked correction article for further details.

Change Date: 26 July 2021

Change Type: Correction

Change Details: A Correction to this paper has been published:

Change Details: https://doi.org/10.1186/s12890-021-01574-8

Ethics approval and consent to participate

: The inclusion in the study is based on the written consent of the patient or his/her legal representative, according to the Helsinki declaration and the Belgian law. The eligible patients will be unable to speak—due to tracheal intubation—and most often likely not able to understand the information about the benefits and risks of the trial—due to sedation and/or confusion due to COVID-induced sepsis. Their relatives will likely be only contacted by phone and asked to send a written consent by email, according to the guidelines of the participating ICU, which most frequently preclude access of visitors to the hospitals due to the pandemic aspect of COVID-19. This protocol has been approved by the Investigational Review Board / Central Ethics Committee of the University hospital of Liège, Belgium on September 1, 2020, number # 2020/239.

: Not applicable.

: The authors declare that they have no competing interests.