Proning—lying on the stomach—has been useful for treating intubated, sedated COVID-19 patients, but a new study designed to tease out possible benefits for awake patients found that the method is difficult to use.

Early in the pandemic, when there were few treatments for COVID-19 and hospital wards were overwhelmed, doctors reported benefits in severely ill patients who were placed in the prone position, a well-known strategy for managing patients who are in acute respiratory distress.

It wasn't clear, however, if proning, which is designed to allow more oxygen into the lungs, would be useful for those with less severe infections, who typically are awake and receiving oxygen.