The UK’s state-run health care service warned on Saturday that the equipment used by Covid-19 patients to monitor blood oxygen levels at home may give inaccurate readings to people with darker skin.
The warning is related to pulse oximeters, which are currently used by many people at risk of severe Covid-19 symptoms to check their blood oxygen levels. Below a certain reading, they need to be hospitalized.
The NHS, a nationally funded health service in the United Kingdom, provides these services to people who have symptoms of the virus, are over 65 years of age, or are clinically vulnerable.
In a statement, the NHS said, “There are reports that pulse oximeters may be less accurate for people with darker skin because they may show higher blood oxygen readings”.
These devices are clamped on the fingers and measure the oxygen level in the blood by shining light onto the skin of a person.
The updated guidelines for virus patients on the NHS main website now warn:
There are some reports that if you have brown or black skin, they may not be accurate. They may display readings that are higher than the oxygen content in the blood.
But it is important to check regularly whether they will drop, it added.
Habib Naqvi, director of the NHS Race and Health Observatory, said the issue affected “black (and) diverse Asian communities”.
Minority members, especially black Africans and Bangladeshis, have the highest mortality rate from the virus in the UK.
On Saturday, the number of deaths caused by Covid-19 in the United Kingdom was 129,583, one of the highest deaths in the world.
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