[framebit]

There was an article in the NY Times a few days ago from a respiratory doctor who explained that the nature of the physical mechanisms in covid-19 pneumonia mean that the patients' oxygen saturation will go way down before they start feeling short of breath, which accounts for the folks showing up at the ER with ridiculously low saturation. He noted that the celebrities who have recovered from covid-19 generally have really close, constant monitoring of their oxygen levels so problems are detected and treated way before ventilators are needed.

[1] https://www.nytimes.com/2020/04/20/opinion/coronavirus-testi...

[AnimalMuppet]

What do they do to treat that, short of a ventilator? Oxygen?

[sgent]

Yep, oxygen through nasal cannulas or some sort of oxygen injected into a CPAP / BiPAP system.

[dr_dshiv]

Shouldn't this be dealt with at home, then?

[AnimalMuppet]

I don't know, but I suspect that those on oxygen may be sick enough that they should be carefully monitored, and have intervention available if they need it.

[dr_dshiv]

That's what I want to know. Do you just need oxygen tanks at home?