New Delhi: The Delhi government will create a plasma bank to fight coronavirus, Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal said this afternoon, urging those who have recovered from the infection to donate plasma to help other patients.
“The Delhi government will set up a plasma bank, I request people to donate plasma to save lives of COVID-19 patients,” Mr Kejriwal said during a media briefing, adding that the plasma bank wil srart operating in the capital in the next two working days. He said the state government has, so far, conducted clinical trails of plasma therapy on 29 coronavirus patients and that they received encouraging results.
“I request all those (who have recovered from coronavirus) that it’s rare that you get to save lives. I request you to please come forward and donate. This is the true service of god,” the Chief Minister said.
Mr Kejriwal said that a helpline will be set up by the government for queries related to donation of plasma.
One of the most discussed methods of treatment of the disease caused by the novel coronavirus is plasma therapy, which involves the transfusion of plasma from a convalescent coronavirus patient to a critical patient. The blood of a recovering patient is rich in antibodies produced by the body to fight the virus, which are expected to help the critical patient recover.
Delhi – the state with the second highest number of coronavirus cases in India – has witnessed a worrying surge in cases in the last couple of weeks.
Delhi had reported India’s first plasma therapy success when a 49-year-old man who received treatment for coronavirus was taken off ventilator support. Clinical trials of plasma therapy started in Delhi in April.
The centre had called it an experimental procedure and said there was “no concrete evidence to support plasma therapy as coronavirus treatment.” There have been reports, however, of COVID-19 patients getting cured after undergoing the treatment.
