Angus Mordant/Bloomberg via Getty Images
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A paramedic uses a pulse oximeter to check a patient s vital signs during an August home visit in the Bronx borough of New York. Angus Mordant/Bloomberg via Getty Images
The common fingertip devices that measures oxygen in the blood can sometimes give misleading readings in people with dark skin, according to a report Wednesday in
The New England Journal of Medicine.
These devices, called pulse oximeters, are increasingly finding their way into people s homes, because of the COVID-19 pandemic. So, this is not just a concern for medical personnel using professional-grade devices.
Austin-Travis County health officials on Tuesday reported more than 600 new coronavirus cases almost 200 more cases than the previous day s total and the largest single-day increase in the area since mid-July.
Local health authorities reported 613 people tested positive for the coronavirus on Tuesday, bringing the total case count in the area to 43,469. The figure marks the highest number of new cases detected in a single-day in the Austin-Travis County area since July 13, when officials reported 657 cases.
The record for the most number of new coronavirus cases reported in a single day was set on July 8, when county health authorities said 753 people tested positive for the virus.
Dr. Margaret Coates was wearing a mask, but it was clear she was smiling. She was about to receive a COVID-19 vaccination. It feels like Christmas, the 27-year-old University of Texas Dell Medical School resident said Tuesday, moments after a UT nursing student removed the needle from her arm. This just really felt like a sigh of relief and really a moment of catharsis for me to get the vaccine.
Coates spent a month in Ascension Seton s emergency department and COVID-19 ward earlier this year. She often wears a respirator for eight hours each day to safely treat hospitalized patients.