Delhi to set up plasma bank for Covid-19 treatment

Delhi government will set up a 'plasma bank' to fight Covid-19 within two days, Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal said on Monday as he urged recovered patients to donate plasma that will help people under treatment for the virus infection.

The facility will be housed at the Institute of Liver and Biliary Sciences in south Delhi's Vasant Kunj and the state government would make travel arrangements for those willing to donate plasma

Read: All you need to know about plasma therapy

Kejriwal said there is high demand for plasma therapy in the national capital, which is one of the first states to start plasma therapy trials, and that prompted the government to start the first-of-its-kind plasma bank in the country.

"In the first phase, we conducted plasma trials on 29 patients. The results are good. I am not saying it is a life saving therapy for all. It helps stabilise respiratory rate of moderate to severe patients. But it cannot save serious patients," he said.

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He said any patient admitted in government or private hospitals can avail the facilities of the plasma bank. But this can be done only through the recommendation of a doctor. "It cannot be randomly sought by any Covid-19 patient. After recommendation, the concerned hospital has to inform ILBS for plasma," he said.

The government is also setting up a helpline to help recovered patients to reach out. Health officials would also start calling them to persuade them to donate plasma, he said.

Kejriwal had earlier said that plasma therapy had helped in reducing death rate by around 50 per cent in Lok Nayak Jai Prakash Hospital.