Mysterious, amazingly low oxygen levels, how pulse oximeter gives the first warning of coronavirus

A pulse Oximeter | Image Thinkpaul: Wikimedia

A cheap device might keep people off ventilators and be the first warning of trouble

In coronavirus blood oxygen levels can silently drop to unheard of levels. People may be unaware they even have coronavirus as oxygen levels fall to the point, medico’s are rewriting the record books. This is a hypoxia crisis — it’s a defining feature of the disease. The In the UK, the demand for oxygen at hospitals is so great that the NHS is running out, rationing it, and asking docs to lower their blood oxygen targets.

People are monitoring their “blood oxy sats” at home so they get an early warning that they need more serious medical help. Normal blood oxygen levels are 95-100% saturated. Doctors used to get uppity at levels below 92%, and hospital alarms often go off if children with asthma fall below 90%. AT 88% doctors are putting people on continuous oxygen therapy. Levels below 80% are considered dangerous enough to start causing organ damage. But medical staff are finding covid patients with levels so low they are unheard of — an unbelieveable 50 percent.

Dr Levitan, an emergency doctor in New York […]