Give that man some medals!

From The Daily Mail:

A son has managed to nurse his coronavirus-stricken father back to health at home despite the 81-year-old being released from hospital to die.

Raj used a Google spreadsheet to monitor Suri’s vital signs, kept his house clean and isolated him from the rest of the family in Watford. The 55-year-old relied on a continuous positive airway pressure, also called ‘black boxes’, which are used to tackle sleep apnoea.

Hats off for his devotion, initiative, courage etc, but the key is the last bit.

I read an article somewhere or other, probably in a covid-conspiracy Whatsapp group, by a doctor who said that using ventilators was overkill and actually made matters worse. The gist of it was that it’s not the virus that kills you, it’s your immune response. Injuring the airways and lungs by intubating and then overloading them with oxygen exacerbates things. The survival rate of people who are put on ventilators is apparently quite appalling (although maybe it is not a fair comparison – they only put people on ventilators as a last resort).

The article concluded that the common-or-garden face masks (which people use to treat sleep apnoea) which increase the air pressure slightly was were much more appropriate (they are also a lot cheaper, easier to use, safer etc).

In this instance, it looks like the article – and Mr Nathwani – were correct.