Doctors fighting coronavirus face a ventilator Catch-22

Doctors fighting coronavirus face a ventilator Catch-22

But after insertion, intubation is better at preventing the spread of coronavirus in the air than a tube or mask that doesn’t isolate the patient’s respiratory system. “We don’t want to give them high-flow oxygen because when you cough against that jet, the chances you are going to spill [the virus] further is a big problem,” says Dr. Govind Rajan, the director of clinical services at the University of California, Irvine, Medical Center. … In this environment, ventilators can start looking like a more attractive option.  … Rajan is part of a group of doctors who have developed a design for one of those simple ventilators..