A patient wearing a helmet-based ventilator at a Houston-area hospital in late July. | Go Nakamura/Getty Images
Improved treatment options could help save lives in the Covid-19 pandemic.
Something I get asked a lot is: Have we actually learned anything about how to fight Covid-19?
Given the continued debate over (proven) tactics like social distancing and mask-wearing, and the reticence of some political leaders to take preemptive action to curb the disease’s spread, it’s not an unreasonable question.
But when I hear that question, the first thing I think about isn’t Zoom calls or isolating in a cabin or strapping on my mask before I walk into the grocery store. I think about remdesivir, dexamethasone, and prone positioning.
Because, in fact, doctors and nurses have learned a ton about the best medicine for treating Covid-19. It’s too soon to say exactly how many lives