In just the last 24 hours, I've heard from a colleague in Boston whose wife (also an academic) has COVID-19 (he does not have any symptoms yet), and from an academic couple in New York City, both of whom have it. One of the latter made a good suggestion on Facebook: it's helpful to have an oximeter at home: you put your finger in, and it gives you your pulse and, more importantly, the oxygen saturation in your blood. Normal results are 95 or higher, but you should figure out your own baselines once you get one. We bought the Zacurate Pro Series 500DL Pulse Oximeter from Amazon a couple of weeks ago for about $27 or $28 dollars. (My father, who has COPD, has had a Choicemmeter one for a long time, and that has also been fine.) If one feels short of breath, it's hard to tell how short of breath you really are, and this gives you a useful metric to share with your doctor. According to the Mayo Clinic, readings under 90 on an oximeter are low, but normal levels can vary depending on one's general pulmonary health. (Medicare authorizes supplemental oxygen for most patients with blood oxygen consistently below 88 on a pulse oximeter.) Links to other sources and comments from knowledgeable readers welcome.
UPDATE: A reader, below, notes that Amazon can't deliver the Zacuarate Oximeter until late May. There are many others on the market fortunately, google should be able to help you figure out whether they're legitimate.
ADDENDUM: Here's a poll, to get a sense of how many others now know people with COVID-19. Maybe I'll run this again in a few weeks for comparison.
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