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New Delhi, July 6 (IANS) Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Monday appealed to the cured COVID-19 patients to donate plasma in large numbers to treat those infected with the virus in the national capital.
Addressing a press conference, Kejriwal said that since the demand of plasma is more and the supply is less, so people should come forward and donate.
His appeal came at a time when a total of 99,444 confirmed COVID-19 patients were reported in the national capital, as per Ministry of Health and Family Welfare (MoHF) data.
He also mentioned that the process to donate plasma is easier than blood donation.
Kejriwal said, "Our team is calling up people requesting them to donate plasma, if you receive such a call please don't refuse. If the number of people donating plasma does not go up, the stock will run out soon."
"I appeal to all hospitals to counsel their recovered Covid-19 patients to donate plasma after 14 days of getting cured," Kejriwal said.
He also assured people that donating plasma will not cause any harm or weakness.
The appeal came four days after he announced the launch of the country's first plasma bank to treat coronavirus patients in Delhi. The plasma bank is now operational at the Institute of Liver and Biliary Sciences in south Delhi, which the Chief Minister said, is a facility where no Covid-19 patient approaches.
The plasma bank will only be successful when people would come forward and donate for patients," he added.
Kejriwal expressed satisfaction over treatment of Covid patients in Delhi hospitals. He said that there are more beds than the number of patients admitted.
"Delhi currently has 15,000 beds for Covid patients but has only 5,100 patients. The number of patients in hospitals is decreasing," Kejriwal said on the availability of beds in the national capital.
He said that around 20,000-24,000 samples are being tested in Delhi every day now.
Adding that the death rate has also come down, he said, "Covid-19 cases have crossed 1 lakh mark in Delhi but there is no need to panic as around 72,000 people have also recovered."
"Out of 25,000 active patients, 15,000 are being treated at home," Kejriwal said.
Plasma therapy is considered effective for people struggling to cope with coronavirus. It involves injection of blood-component plasma extracted from a cured patient to a positive coronavirus case. The plasma extracted from a cured patient is considered to be having virus fighting antibodies. It strengthens the immunity of the person getting the plasma.
--IANS
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