At around ‘85’ on the o2 meter, the body is losing the ability to even process o2 and organs are undergoing oxygen deprivation which hampers ability to function, causing pain and joint aches. Ventilating will reoxygenate those organs and that’s a good thing. Don’t let the ventilating freak you out.
Your nephew appears to be 19 days into the fight that kicks into high gear around day 10, so he’s near or at hump-day of a disease than runs 28 days on average. He’s on his fourth day hospitalized, the average is 8-10 (a few days longer for survivors), so he should start responding positively to treatment very, very soon.
His ICU odds of survival are about 80% roughly and look pretty good based on his prior health of no comorbidities (he’ll likely loose that 25 lbs extra) although he might be slow off the starting block for a while and it will take some time for his lungs to recover. Now is the time to start thinking about how he will convalesce (stairs in the home, hospital programs for rehab, etc?). Think positive, plan positive, act positive, and pray hard.
We will, too. :)
March 2021: “ICU outcomes and survival in patients with severe COVID-19 in the largest health care system in central Florida”
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https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0249038
19 days is an important metric. If the virus is in the bone marrow and killing immature erythrocytes (red blood cells), there won't be replacements. The RBCs have a nominal 19 day life span. Oxygen transport drops as the dying RBCs are removed and not replaced.