Oxygen Deficit

One unusual characteristic of a Covid-19 infection, in some patients, appears to be a dramatic decline in oxygen saturation levels (the blood's oxygen carrying capacity) without the normal signs of distress and/or unconsciousness (https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/may/03/happy-hypoxia-unusual-coronavirus-effect-baffles-doctors). Typical lung infections, like pneumonia, producing anything like the same drop in oxygen saturation (a measure that is often taken clinically,) results in the patient being unable to talk or respond normally. The prognosis for people with so-called 'happy hypoxia' is, however, poor (having a low level of oxyhaemoglobin is not a good sign). Physicians are trying to make sense of this atypical combination of symptoms. The finding suggests that saturation levels (easy to do) could be routinely extended to patients who appear relatively normal.