That's the thing that clips on your finger and measures you oxygen saturation. Physicians are learning that the pneumonia that results from COVID-19 behaves differently from most other varieties, and lowers your oxygen level well before actually showing noticeable symptoms. By the time you notice difficulty breathing, you're already in critical condition. It's estimated that, if people diagnosed with COVID-19 checked their oxygen saturation at home, and communicated the results to their doctor, many would have been hospitalized before feeling like they needed to, and could be treated before they were in such extreme condition that survival is difficult.

They give a really important data point. If your oxygen saturation dips below normal (normal is 95-99%) then you need to watch it like a hawk. I would call your doctor at that point and ask for COVID-19 test.

You can still find them on Amazon in the $50 range.

Guess word travels fast.

What I don't know is: what's a GOOD or BAD measure of OXY level?

Unless you have COPD or other lung disease
https://www.healthline.com/health/normal-blood-oxygen-level#oxygen-levels

Are obviously ridiculous.

A temperature scan isn’t predictive of COVID. You can have it and be presymptomatic, asymptomatic, or fever May not be one or your symptoms.

...because, supposedly, you're most contagious a day or two before showing symptoms. A temperature check is merely closing the barn door after the horse has fled.

And we want to be successful.

Part is that if you get 90% of the sick people, maybe you can get them treatment early and maybe slow the spread (and maybe save more people the agony of COVID).


Better to catch the horse when it's still near the barn and hasn't cleared the last couple of fences than wait a few hours.

Good. Perfect. They really shouldn't be archenemies.

Then I just had four ones, two quarters and five dimes.

Since they were already sick could they have been taking Tylenol where that could be suppressing the fever? Just a thought.

The Grotesque Orange Pustule strikes again. We will never know the full extent of this disease because of the fool's incompetence.

How many have been turned away to spread the disease because they didn't exhibit symptoms that were wrongly assumed to be determinate?

When I had the sudden, oppressive bronchitis in December my only doubt that it could be CV19 was I ran no fever. (And, I guess, my wife never got sick.)
But, I had the other symptoms of a moderate case.
Maybe I did have it.
I was especially suspicious because I got it about 5 days after I subbed where, in 7 school days, 19 people got sick with bronchitis or pneumonia, out of 130 total!

Here is an article from NEJM about the relatively low percentage of patients initially presenting with fever (43.8%):

https://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMoa2002032

The most common symptoms were fever (43.8% on admission and 88.7% during hospitalization) and cough (67.8%).

In a major way. Terribly unproductive, too. Hard cough & felt NOTHING moving inside the chest.
Albuterol helped a lot. Along with OTC expectorant. About 5 rough days.
My blood oxygen was over 95 even at quick care, so still not sure I had this virus. Just that it's more possible than I thought, originally.
The thing that keeps sounding the alarm is 1/9th of the students, and over 30% of the adults at that school all got sick with respiratory problems in 2 weeks. That's suspiciously high.

Glad you are fine & I hope the others are as well.

unless a doctor tells you to. Fever naturally slows viruses and gives your immune system time to react.

Also, there are studies that show that people that use saunas to briefly elevate body temperature have more robust immune response.

Some have suggested that the virus initially suppresses the immune response and some have a delayed response that can be too strong. IDK