Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Monday announced setting up of a ‘plasma bank’ to save lives of serious COVID-19 patients in the national capital. Addressing an online media briefing, the chief minister said the bank will start working in the next two days, adding that the AAP government will encourage those who have recovered from COVID-19 to donate their plasma. The chief minister said that a helpline will be set up by the government for queries related to donation of plasma.
Addressing an online media briefing, the chief minister said the bank will start working in the next two days, adding that the AAP government would encourage those who have recovered from Covid-19 to donate their plasma. The chief minister said that a helpline will be set up by the government for queries related to donation of plasma.
He said that his government will make transportation arrangements for those willing to donate their plasma.
“The plasma bank will be first of its kind for the treatment of COVID-19 patients. Perhaps, it will be the first plasma bank in the country,” he said.
The chief minister said that in the LNJP Hospital, plasma therapy was conducted on 35 COVID-19 patients and of them, 34 lives were saved and one patient died. Similarly, 49 patients were administrated therapy in private hospitals and 46 people recovered from the virus.
Requesting people to come forward and donate their plasma, he said, “In the entire life, there is a very little chance to save someone’s life and you (those recovered from COVID-19) have got this chance,” he said.
Kejriwal said relatives of a COVID-19 person are free to give plasma to the patient and it is not necessary to only donate to the bank.
He asserted that there is no shortage of beds in the national capital as several steps have been taken to effectively deal with the COVID-19 situation.
“At present, we have 13,500 beds and of these, only 6,000 beds have been occupied so far,” he said.
On Sunday, Delhi recorded 2,889 fresh coronavirus cases, taking the tally in the city over the 83,000-mark, while the death toll from the disease mounted to 2,623.
The number of containment zones in the city also jumped to 421 on Sunday from 280 after the re-mapping of such areas.
