COVID-19: Goa will set up plasma bank, says health minister

He said Goa Medical College and Hospital already has the facilities required to operate such a bank and people who have recovered from the infection would be asked to come forward to donate plasma. A decision on setting up such a bank will be conveyed to the Indian Council of Medical Research soon, he added.

Goa Health Minister Vishwajit Rane on Saturday said the state will have a plasma bank to treat COVID-19 patients. He said Goa Medical College and Hospital already has the facilities required to operate such a bank and people who have recovered from the infection would be asked to come forward to donate plasma.

A decision on setting up such a bank will be conveyed to the Indian Council of Medical Research soon, he added. He said GMCH's department of transfusion medicine will be given more human resources.

Convalescent plasma therapy, also called passive antibody therapy, seeks to obtain plasma from the blood of people who have recovered from the infection to inject into patients undergoing treatment..