Ask HN: Have you been infected by Covid-19? What is it like?
Might be useful to provide some information about existing conditions you may have so that we can get a picture of what symptoms to watch for beyond the "fever and difficulty to breathe" described by most sources.
200 comments
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- https://sm.mashable.com/mashable_sea/photo/default/coronavir...
I'm kinda curious though if this quarantining is also gonna significantly help with any other diseases already out in the wild. Would be nice if we ended up also clearing out some of the regular flu stains too
Dude. You can’t mix units like that. The flu has a 0.095% death rate, S. Korea’s current Covid-19 death rate is 0.7%, and Italy’s rate is around 5%.
You made both the flu and South Korea’s situation out to be ten times worse than they were.
Several other European countries and the US are on roughly the same infection rate trajectory as Italy, just a few weeks behind. Unless they significantly slow it down, it seems likely their health systems will be overwhelmed too, and their death rates could start looking more like Italy’s.
https://www.worldometers.info/coronavirus/#countries
https://www.who.int/docs/default-source/coronaviruse/who-chi...
This just shows how little we know (and/or how much misinformation there is about it), and that a differential diagnosis based on symptoms is basically impossible (at least for a non-expert).
[1] https://www.worldometers.info/coronavirus/coronavirus-sympto...
It's like the flu with the added difference that it makes breathing more difficult. Also difficulty swallowing. It was more annoying than anything, not really that bad. I don't have any health problems, but if I did have breathing issues, I imagine it might be very problematic.
https://www.worldometers.info/coronavirus/coronavirus-sympto...
Notably, the COVID-19 infection rarely seems to cause a runny nose, sneezing, or sore throat (these symptoms have been observed in only about 5% of patients).
That doesn't mean you didn't have it, of course, but does suggest it might have just been a cold.
Edit: The way I experience is is that there is a constant tickle in my throat. It sometimes get so strong that I can't hold back a cough but most of the time it just stays a tickle. I call that sore throat, when I got it initially it surprised me and I got a cough attack but after that I've been able to suppress it and not cough for days.
The cough is probably because of lung issues. Apparently sore throat is only a symptom in 1/6th of cases but the dry cough is present in 2/3rd. There's also sputum in 1/3rd of cases, that's lungs / trachea mucus.
I had that as well for 3 weeks after being on an event with known covid-19 cases, feels very different from the flu. I asked if they wanted to diagnose me but I didn't fit their profile (being on the same event doesn't count as close contact), so I've self quarantined as well just in case.
In Singapore once a case was/is discovered, an intense contact tracing effort begins to identify and quarantine everyone who might be infected, to contain the spread.
If you haven't, it might be useful to ring up healthcare workers and people you've met and let them know.
Singapore has a truly excellent infectious disease program.
I run in circles with someone that returned from Italy and has been confirmed to have Covid19. I'm assuming I have it.
The fever isn't so bad for me but there have been a few times where I thought I would die from not being able to breath. There is only one thing I did that helped with the breathing but it fits in the old wife's tales category so I wont post it here since I don't want to be mocked for it. We used to the same thing 10 years ago to get my Mother-in-law off the ventilator when they told us she would never get off.
Today is day 6 since the fever started and the fever is gone today, still feeling weak.
For the throat issue, we use hibiscus (hot) with ginger. It really helps a lot to relief the pain and ease your breathing.
I'm curious now what you meant ... maybe it would work for others and if it falls into the category of "can't hurt", why not share it.
NOTE: the coughing above is not a self-diagnosis on my part.
Science doesn't always tell us why something works, but it may tell us "whether". The theory of whether something works is much easier to understand and test than the theory of why or how.
It may not be rigorous science with good experimental design, that's all.
But an important part of that process is trying to determine if something works or not.
I'd say doing that well is difficult without at least some theory and hypothesis of how - because of the need to determine significant factors.
To take a silly example, you could take a group of diarrhea patients and serve some copious amounts of green tea, and another group a limited amount of water; you'd probably observere severe dehydration in the group that is served water. But it does not follow that green tea is better than water for treating diarrhea - sufficient hydration is.
> One could argue that science is about falsifying hypothesis - and terby narrowing in on not just if something works, but how.
To clarify, are YOU arguing that? Because if you're not arguing that, if you're just playing devil's advocate, then I'm unhappy with the way the conversation is going.
Testing "how" is not a requirement for science. There's been a lot of work on the philosophy of science over the past few centuries which I'm not going to try and summarize here (tl;dr: the idea of "falsifiability" is a bit outdated), but I'm going to copy and paste the first sentence of Wikipedia:
> Science is a systematic enterprise that builds and organizes knowledge in the form of testable explanations and predictions about the universe.
There's no requirement in science that we understand a mechanism of action.
My point about tea vs water is exactly that having: "a systematic enterprise that builds and organizes knowledge" helps with controlling for other factors when setting up and evaluating experiments?
Ed: hm, we may be talking past each other here:
> Testing "how" is not a requirement for science
Indeed, 'testing "how"' isn't really possible, only testing "if". But testing "if" with no idea of "how" is very difficult? (because without an idea of "how" it's hard to even define the "what")
It says "and predictions". That is, both "testable explanations" and "testable predictions" are a part of science.
> Indeed, 'testing "how"' isn't really possible, only testing "if".
This argument is a dead end. If you construct your epistemology in such a fragile way that testing "how" is not possible, then take a closer look at the world you've constructed, you'll find that testing "if" is not possible either.
Any modern philosophy of science has to reconcile with modern epistemology. If you try to construct a good definition for science but use your intuition about what "knowledge" is, then you're only going to discover that you need to go back and refine your understanding of epistemology.
I claim that we can, in fact, test "how".
Testing "how" and testing "whether" are both scientific endeavors.
> One could argue that science is about falsifying hypothesis - and terby narrowing in on not just if something works, but how.
You read that as saying that we can only test how, not if. Now you read my comments as saying we can only test if not how.
I think we're in agreement that they are two sides of the scientific process.
The original sentence, "One could argue that..." is poorly worded and confusing. Maybe you could take this opportunity to clarify what you meant.
I'm not really interested in litigating who said what. I'd rather understand what you actually mean, rather than try and attack the wording that you happened to use.
To clarify what I'm saying: Testing "whether" can be science, without testing "how", and vice versa.
Testing the "if" is science - but difficult without a framework helping understand "how". Testing only if, in a vacuum, isn't enough - and it is a tool on the path to understanding "how". This allows such things as using statistical models (if one has an idea of distribution, for example) to help refine the "if" tests, and narrow down exactly what your "if" experiment tested.
I don't think you can have science without both, and I think defining a body of theory is the more important aspect.
I get in discussions about philosophy of science all the time because I am passionate about it. But I am very disappointed because it turns out that other people who are passionate about science and the philosophy of science haven't really done the reading. This discussion is a prime example.
It makes me feel like nothing more than a conduit, copying arguments out of old books and pasting them on the internet.
Why would I care that these 2 things are not peer reviewed by some high level scientists ?
I know it won't be a popular opinion here but there's too much emphasis placed on science nowadays. While science is perfect, scientists aren't, they can make mistakes, they can be bought, and more importantly there's not enough budget to prove everything.
So I'm a pragmatist : if the thing makes sense to me and isn't costly or dangerous to try, I try it.
In fact I whish the placebo effect was much more prevalent. Imagine if you could cure everything with a few drops of fresh squeezed lemon juice in warm water ?
The reaction is unsurprising. Anyone who has ever cut onions gained an understanding that irritating gas (http://enwp.org/Syn-Propanethial-S-oxide) wafts up into the eyes. The hypothesis that water in the mouth is supposed to help runs counter to intuition.
It affords testing. Devise an experiment and let us know the result.
If you want to try, next time you cut onions put some water in your mouth and keep it there until you've finished cutting.
It will get a bad taste, spit it once you're finished.
The site rules prevent me from making an appropriate reply.
We forgot about it until I was gasping for air and then my wife remembered and we had some laying around. I could breath again in about 20 minutes. My chest and lungs still hurt until today.
Edit - While I greatly appreciate the downvotes folks, this is not the correct time to start ingesting random "potions" (as a previously deleted comment wonderfully called them) you're sourcing from Amazon of all places. Goodness.
There aren't very good studies for basically anything in medicine (let alone outside of medicine). Triple/Double-blind large studies are expensive in the extreme. We don't have strong evidence for the majority of things we do.
Recent examples might be mamograms causing more cancer than it detects and stents, it turns out, are no better than a placebo.
Therefore, the lack of a decent studies isn't in itself that interesting. Neither is it illogical for people to turn to old wives tales for knowledge because the filter of history on the knowledge is more powerful than retail medicine in terms of anecdata.
I mean, maybe Moringa Oil is amazing (I doubt it). It's available for much cheaper than the listed amazon link: https://www.vitaminshoppe.com/p/cold-pressed-rwandan-moringa...
The price point on amazon is ridiculous though...makes me want to get in the business of packaging and selling this product in the future (not specific to covid).
What if this info helps someone in need?
There is no reason someone mocks you about it, they will be downvoted as it's against HN guidelines.
The key is to (a) avoid stuff that could be dangerous (eating exotic stuff that may be potentially poisonous), (b) don’t use it as a replacement for actual proven treatments and what your doctor recommends.
The old wives tales I occasionally follow are stuff like having a ginger turmeric tea, something that would probably sell for $7/cup if a coffee shop put it on their menu.
Glad to hear that your Mother-in-law managed to get off the ventilator despite the odds.
Hearing this makes me both mad and sad that you think it will get you downvoted. And who cares if it gets you downvoted? Hearing personal health experiences is extremely valuable. It’s what I missed the most about the internet these days with most conversations moving away from forums and message boards.
What kind of nonsense rule is that? They're intentionally breaking the statistics.
Which country is this, if you don't mind saying?
The reason the counts are so low is the CDC refuses to test anyone.
[0] https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/images/lab-data-gr...
[1] https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/cases-updates/test...
It's a huge failure, but it's not a nonsense rule, it's a result of poor planning and mistakes made weeks ago.
I don't see much point in using limited resources just to satisfy the curiosity of people who are able to isolate themselves and recover unaided. In fact I had something with COVID-19 symptoms a week ago and I am certainly curious to know if I did have it or not. But I have since recovered and nobody I was with (so far) is sick so there's not a lot to gain by me being tested.
https://twitter.com/JeffJacksonNC/status/1238811865481990144
So if that is true, the testing capacity isn't going to be limited just by device approvals. Also need to establish the protocols for other reagents and so on.
Why does it seem like people are using this rapidly spreading deadly virus as an argument for their political views...
https://www.michigan.gov/coronavirus/
I don't know what the decision matrix is, I am just saying that lack of testing capacity is a real part of it.
Please tell us. Mockery on here is of no consequence.
Oh, and thanks for posting and good luck.
I make a mixture of turmeric, horseradish, ginger, garlic, habanero, hot onion, and apple cider vinegar. Chop finely or blend and let steep and ferment for as long as you want. Doesn’t go bad. I take shots of it when sick. Actually really good to put in stir fry and stews too.
All of those ingredients have proven health benefits. Doesn’t replace antibiotics or medical treatment but can’t hurt. I’ve noticed it reduces the time I’m sick.
(anything that grows in the earth + oil + cool and dark storage - has a potential for growing Clostridium botulinum which can be lethal).
Hm, indeed. I stopped making garlic oil at home, looks like I should invest in some vinegar...
https://www.thespruceeats.com/removing-risk-of-botulism-from...
Yes drinking water, stretching/really being flexible and fit helps and at the very least needs to start a few days before...
Salmon avocado, iron like steak help with body recovery.
Epsom salt baths help with the cramps as a natural muscle relaxant so does ibuprofen...
It's actually ginger juice, that makes 90% of the pain go away. I bought a $99 breville juicer 8 years ago and lasted me as long. Just got a new one. Three days before I juice ginger with other things
Maybe apple, celery, lemon to help it go down.
Every time I go to the store to get it the cashier's comment they have never seen anyone buy so much ginger in their life, and if it's a woman I tell them my secret. I buy pounds of it and drink probably a quarter gallon the week before.
If you are a woman or have a loved one who suffers from severe period pain, this does amazing things.
That being said, have no idea about respiratory stuff.
An actual Coronavirus story:
I did hear the scientists looking into this said bodies are overreacting into respiratory failure, so maybe it is like many others illnesses potentially about suppressing an extreme over reactionaey autoimmune response.
Someone in my industry got it. 45yr old smoker had to be induced into a coma to avoid acute respiratory failure a couple of weeks ago, after being diagnosed with Coronavirus.
I think the public needs to stress more vulnerable smokers are regardless of age to Coronavirus. Smoking is much more common in China and Italy.
On the other hand ... Why would anybody care about HN karma.
Having said that, I'm also curious and promise I'll upvote him for it. No matter how superstitious it might be.
That easily justifies calling an ambulance, even in the present circumstances.
(At least according to the current advice in the UK and Denmark.)
[1] https://twitter.com/yaletung
Here's an article about two Chinese women with COVID-19, with very different outcomes.
https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2020/03/13/world/asia/co...
I've been repeating this to my students: don't panic, but be cautious.
I realize that for laymen (like me) it doesn't really matter. But academically speaking, is there a difference?
COVID-19 (Coronavirus disease 2019) is the disease.
SARS-CoV-2 (Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2) is the virus.
The virus itself is called SARS-CoV-2 and previously 2019-nCoV
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Severe_acute_respiratory_syn...
- Male (56), no symptoms except weak voice
- Female (55), no symptoms
- Male (80), light fever (37,7C), weak voice
- Female (81), no symptoms
These cases are all connected, and we have talked with others that seem to have caught the same variant/mutation. None of them does really show symptoms, no hospitalizations, no real fever, and no hard breathing. Hope this is a light variant/mutation, and the situation stays the same for them.
As for symptoms: Male (56) fought quite hard to get one, as he had long direct contact with a positive-tested person. Male (80) got one because of "risk group" (age) and symptoms (light fever).
Austria has approx. 8 Mio inhabitants
official source: https://www.sozialministerium.at/Informationen-zum-Coronavir...
We got those phone calls from the local authorities about the test results yesterday/Thursday, and they couldn't really tell us about any medical details or what will happen. Will get in touch (haha!) with our local doctor on Monday, maybe he has some more info on the test results themselves, or if they could still be in the incubation period, what the next steps will be, etc.
For now anybody infected or anybody who was in direct contact for more than 15 minutes with them is in isolation at home, as per official order by the local authorities.
The 4 relatives of mine mentioned that were CoV-positive do show no symptoms. They are under authority-mandated quarantine "until we tell them otherwise/until revoked", but the authorities can not tell us how to get out of this quarantine.
Some people say that two nevative CoV-test results in a 48h-period are necessary, but getting those tests (would be 8 tests for those 4 people) in an 48h period seems to be impossible.
So all of them did neither show symptoms, nor had any health issues, with the exception of Male (80) with light fever.
Sadly something like that would probably have a lot of trolls, and hypochondriacs.
Male (56) was in this ski resort for a week as well, though not in this particular bar as far as I know.
So it really seems that these measures to keep people at home and close up all "gathering spots" is the right way to tackle this!
The interview is in German but maybe Google Translate can help. His symptoms however have been very mild.
https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/health-environment/article/30...
The numbers are many multiples of what is being reported.
I live in the (presumed) social democratic paradise of Sweden where the "government" has just decided to stop testing anyone who is not already in a hospital and belongs to a risk group, i.e. anyone under ~65 years of age without any co-morbidities [1 - Swedish]. The "state epidemiologist" Anders Tegnell has other wisdom to spread to the world like the fact that a call for as many companies to have as many employees as possible working from home is "problematic" because it ends up exposing some people to more risk of infection than others and thus offset the principle of "fairness" in society [2 - Swedish]. In other words, if we can not lower the risk of exposure for everyone we should not lower the risk for anyone. He is also against school closures because children can not get infected - oh, they can? OK, because children don't get very ill - but they'll still spread the infection to those who can get very ill? OK, because some children don't have it all that nice at home so it would not be fair to them to close the schools. Again, if we can not make it better for everyone it is preferable to not do anything at all.
Sweden is now coming under heavy criticism from other countries, China being one of them [3 - Swedish] when they state "Sweden has capitulated in front of the virus and stands to become a danger to other countries". This is probably part of an ongoing spat between Sweden and China where Sweden earlier criticised China's actions against a Chinese-Swedish citizen but there is no denying that the Swedish "government" has shown a lack of foresight and proactive strategies. There is a dearth of supplies, Sweden has the lowest number of hospital beds per capita in the OECD which is odd for the country with the highest taxes in the world, the health care system can not cope with the normal case load let alone with an influx of Corona-related patients.
[1] https://www.aftonbladet.se/nyheter/samhalle/a/70GQRV/nya-str...
[2] https://nyheteridag.se/tegnell-ojamlikt-att-spotifys-anstall...
[3] https://www.svd.se/kina-riktar-skarp-coronakritik-mot-sverig...
But that is precisely why the ones who can, office workers, should stay home. For them! We are in this together.
This guy should absolutely resign, apparently when asked to do so here is his response (link 2)
> No. It is clear that if someone who is considered more competent than I am at dealing with this will come to accept that situation. But I think this is really fun. It sounds a bit strange, but it's a big challenge, a fantastic challenge with this kind of work.
Guy sounds like an absolute moron.
The reason why not everyone is offered testing is because healthcare is very accessible and free in Sweden (like it is in Denmark, Norway, and Germany too) meaning that you can't offer it to everyone who wants it. Because if you did, you would have to pointlessly test a million hypochondriacs with symptoms that have nothing to do with corona just for the sake of it.
For one view on how well countries handle the epidemic, look at the fatality rate. US: 49/2195 = 2.2%, Germany: 5/3062 = 0.16%, Sweden: 2/867 = 0.23%, Norway: 1/996 = 0.10%, Frane: 79/3667 = 2.2%.
I’m Swedish/Norwegian, and the governments have responded pretty differently. How do you know that sweden is correct and not norway/denmark?
(I say this as someone who is far to the left of V, FI and MP, and considers Nyheter Idag to be propaganda, but that doesn’t change the fact that Anders Tegnell actually gave that asinine answer about “jämlikhet” in an interview)
I am all for single-payer health insurance, either through the state or through a private-public system like the Netherlands uses. I just don't see how the current Swedish system can be seen as a good solution given the high costs and low productivity it is characterised by.
Those fatality rates you quote are based on the assumption that the reported case incidence is correct which is very likely not the case. Assuming that the number of SARS2-related deaths is correct this number is probably the best way to make an estimate of the actual case incidence in developed countries with a functioning (not overloaded) health care system - this does not go for e.g. Italy where they're now doing reverse triage, i.e. they decide who gets treatment based on a desire to maximize throughput instead of treating those who have the highest need first as is done in a non-overloaded situation.
By the way, I'm not a Swede. I am a Dutchman living in Sweden with a Swedish-French wife and two Dutch-Swedish-French children.
That would be a fair position if you could tell us how you would do it better. Preferably your proposals should be based on research. I imagine being an epidemologist and constantly having people questioning your expertise is not dissimilar to being a software developer and having people constantly doing the same to you. Frustrating, in other words.
> Your statement on Swedish health care being "very accessible and free" is easily countered by the fact that the waiting times are notoriously long and getting longer while the amount of provincial tax money spent per capita is more than double the amount spent by neighbouring Finland which manages to avoid some of these problems.
Corona testing would be executed by primary caregivers for which waiting times are short. See https://www.vantetider.se/ The stats say that 80% of patients have to wait less than three days for a doctor's appointment.
Tax rates are a very broad discussion and in my opinion not relevant here.
> Those long waiting times have led to a large increase in the number of people who take out private health insurance to make sure they can actually get the treatment they need instead of having to wait for half a year or more.
6% of the population has a private health insurance. Such insurance can reduce waiting times to specialist care but not primary care.
> Those fatality rates you quote are based on the assumption that the reported case incidence is correct which is very likely not the case.
True. My point is that, all else being equal, the better the healthcare the lower the mortality rate should be. E.g Germany has 3062 cases but only 5 fatalities meaning that the disease is probably somewhat contained. The US has 2345 cases and 50 fatalities meaning the opposite.
> By the way, I'm not a Swede. I am a Dutchman living in Sweden with a Swedish-French wife and two Dutch-Swedish-French children.
I apologize for jumping to conclusions.
While I have much to fault the overly bureaucratic and top-heavy WHO for I do agree to their current stance on the handling of the pandemic. This stance is based on research and is supported by many in the field. It is also followed by a large number of countries in Europe except for a few, Sweden being one of those. I linked to one of Dr. John Campbell's (who is one of the more reasonable voices on this subject) videos on this subject a few posts above this one:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Etlyvt9n_QE
> Corona testing would be executed by primary caregivers
It shouldn't. It should be done outside of the normal healthcare centres ("vårdcentraler") to reduce the risk of infection. Look at the way it is done in South Korea where mobile testing facilities are used for an idea on how to handle this. There should be no need for an appointment, the test should be "drive-through" or "walk-through".
> 6% of the population has a private health insurance. Such insurance can reduce waiting times to specialist care but not primary care.
The waiting times are mostly an issue for specialist care. Given that a large part of the role of the primary care provider is to refer people to specialist care this reduction in waiting times is very relevant.
This approach sounds very similar to the UK approach, overseen by Whitty[0] and Vallance[1], and agreed with by Neal[2] and Ferguson[3] (and I assume more but I haven't looked very hard). I don't think all these guys are morons. Well, I hope they're not.
[0] Chris Whitty, UK Chief Medical Officer https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chris_Whitty
[1] Patrick Vallance, UK Chief Science Officer https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Patrick_Vallance
[2] Keith Neal, Professor Emeritus - Epidemiology of Infectious Diseases, Univ of Nottingham https://uk.linkedin.com/in/keith-neal-1818b391
https://www.nottinghampost.com/news/nottingham-news/nottingh... (there was a better quote on the BBC but I can't find it now)
[3] Neil Ferguson, https://www.imperial.ac.uk/people/neil.ferguson Haven't got a link but I heard him speak on UK Radio 4's Today programme this morning.
The UK allowed the Cheltenham festival [1] to take place this last week as well, attracting 250.000 visitors.
The mere fact that the UK arrived at the same conclusions as Sweden does not make those conclusions any more valid or wise.
[1] https://cheltenhamfestivaluk.com/
I was (quite vociferously) of your opinion till Boris Johnson's press conference on Thursday. I changed my mind during it listening to Whitty and Vallance explain their strategy. I now think it makes sense.
Dr. John Campbell goes into the contradiction between the approach used in e.g. Sweden and the UK vs. that advocated by the WHO. He is with the WHO on this point, as am I. In a few months time we'll know which approach worked best.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-51892402
Edit: Ah. The list of signatories is worth reviewing.
Regardless I do feel like that idiot needs to resign and that Sweden needs to take this more seriously. Though I guess that’ll happen out of necessity in a week anyway.
Regardless of what's causing your symptoms.
If you're having increased trouble breathing, you should see a hospital.
This is not US-only. Here in Austria there are very strict rules on whom to test, and age is a big factor as well as having symptoms or not. Local authorities do decide on a case-by-case basis, and getting a test if you are not showing symptoms is really hard.
But on the other hand by taking these measures they try to not overwhelm the testing-labs, as they struggle to keep up with the demand for tests and want to keep the reporting-time as low as possible. A couple of days ago test results came back the next day, now (Saturday) they seem to slip to 3 days or more.
So restricting who get's a test and who doesn't seems like a good idea to begin with.
As far as I can tell they’re listed in order of frequency. As for “airway infection” they mention dry cough and runny nose.
From what I can tell the symptoms are more or less similar to a regular seasonal flu or a common cold, but with much more severe outcomes for some.
- Had covid
- Had shortness of breath
- Recovered
- Back to running now
- No notable lung capacity issues post recovery
Not saying they are not out there.
Perhaps in the chinese media / social media we could find more answers... anyone who can read chinese here?
Is there somebody here who could suggest a rule set for when to seek help?
Something like: seek help if SpO2
- between 85% and 90% for more than 48 hours
- between 80% and 85% for more than 24 hours
- below 80% immediately
(actually I do feel mildly ill and as if breathing is a little bit more uncomfortable than usual - but according to my pulsoxymeter SpO2 is at healthy 98% with a pulse around 60 bpm. so everything seems perfectly fine)
> If you think you’ll fret a lot about whether you need to go the hospital, get a pulse oximeter ($20 on Amazon). Readings consistently below 90-94% are pretty bad and mean you should seek immediate treatment.
[1]: https://slatestarcodex.com/2020/03/02/coronavirus-links-spec...
"To self-assess the seriousness of breathing issues I intend to make us of a pulsoxymeter."
I like the idea of owning a pulse oximeter and have them in all of my first aid kits. However, I think of them as providing immediate information about an acute breathing problem.
Your SpO2 should be around 98 always. If you go below 95, something is really wrong and requires immediate attention. You will be displaying signs of breathing difficulty and you're not going to see if it lasts 24 or 48 hours.
If you are not tremendously affected by a cold/flu/coronavirus, I would expect you to have a ~98 SpO2 throughout, even if you feel terrible and perhaps feel your breathing is a bit labored.
" ... below 80% immediately ..."
Just to put this in perspective, all else being equal, you're not going to be coherent or functional in any way below 80%. I would personally call 911 if I saw an otherwise normal person below 90 and I would be very concerned if I saw readings below 95 - especially if the trendline was down ...
If I had it, it would go against many of the models of when it reached Milan. If I didn’t have it, I had some other monster illness that hit the lungs hard.
No proper fever [some of my sleep is the slightly fitful sleep I'd associate with fighting off mild infections, but my temperature is normal or very close], I've coughed only a literal handful of times and not painfully, so clearly sufficiently mild to miss those characteristic responses, no headache and only occasional feelings of fatigue and a bit more sleep than usual. Just inflamed lungs which are more uncomfortable than painful. Back when I felt completely healthy last Wednesday and went for a 3k outdoor run (no more uncomfortable or slower than I'd have expected considering I haven't run much this year) I obviously felt like I was breathing a bit too shallowly and breathing deoxygenated air at the end. This is basically that same feeling coming back the following day, except with a normal breathing rate [and heart rate]. I can still take a deeper breath whenever I want and I'm far from worrying I'm about to run out of oxygen, but just feels uncomfortable and I can imagine how it can cause much more serious problems for people with more severe symptoms, pre-existing lung conditions or immune system issues. It's been steady for the last five days.