Bengaluru, May 9 (IANS): Amid rising COVID-19 cases with comorbidities such as Influenza Like Illness (ILI) and Severe Acute Respiratory Infection (SARI), the city civic body has launched an initiative called Pranavayu to help people, an official said on Friday.

"Pranavayu is an initiative where Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) doctors at fever clinics will monitor patients using a pulse oximeter. This helps them track patients as they progress from ILI to SARI," said Commissioner B. H. Anil Kumar.

Kumar said the move is especially helpful to people with comorbidities and will also empower and educate citizens of self-monitoring on the development of SARI.

He said measuring the oxygen saturation in blood and heart rate, with an oximeter helps in detecting respiratory diseases early.

"Enables doctors to know when such patients need clinical intervention. This helps free up beds and ventilators," said Kumar highlighting the strained medical infrastructure of the city following COVID pandemic.

A drop in oxygen saturation below 90 per cent is a clear sign for an individual to seek medical attention at a hospital for critical care while a reading above 95 per cent is normal.

"Cause of concern in COVID infection is not simple upper respiratory tract infection which resolves on its own in a majority of cases (nearly 80-85 per cent) but the progress of the disease to SARI," said the civic body.

In SARI cases, a patient's lung functionality is impaired to the extent that he needs external support to sustain respiration.

People with comorbidities such as hypertension, diabetes mellitus, chronic obstructive pulmonary disorder, cancer, organ transplant cases, pregnant women and old people are more susceptible to develop SARI after contracting COVID.

In Karnataka, several COVID cases have comorbidities such as ILI and SARI.