On Apr. 1, 2020, a study of 24 of the most critically ill patients with COVID-19, early on in the pandemic, indicated a high mortality rate, and a prolonged time on respirators for the patients who did survive the virusﾒ attack. The study, published March 30 in the New England Journal of Medicine, saw a mortality rate of 50 percent. Most of the patients in the study spent an average of 10 days on a ventilator. Usually the average time a patient in an Intensive Care Unit (ICU) spends on a ventilator ranges from 3 to 7 days, according to one study.