There is no excuse for any patient to be in pain for any amount of time in this day and age. It's that simple. If someone is that broken that they need opiates off the scale then you will knock them out that much with that opiate that they would be ventilated anyway and therefore paralysed and fully sedated. This is why we let patients (where we can) control their opiates using a button (which when pressed gives a dose), if they were to have too much they would pass out and not press the button again. It's a lot safer and people use less pain control because they actually have the power.
In the case of the discussed hydration would be met therefore the problems associated with fluid depletion would be negated, respiratory support would be given to tackle the shortness of breathe you would find and suitable analgesia would take care of the chest pain. Naturally what you can't get rid of is the fear.
With modern facilities and clued up staff you would not see the fatality rate the media loves bandying about. Before some smart arse decides to point out the fatality in Germany then I would respectfully point out there is a big difference between the loading dosage of virus one would expect to get from an infected contact and a contaminated syringe directly entering the blood supply.