Goa Health Minister Vishwajit P Rane on Saturday said that in view of the rising COVID-19 cases in the State, the government is seeking to start a plasma bank and plasma treatment.
"We will be writing to ICMR with our proposal to conduct plasma banking and plasma therapy. We will also be hiring an MD and trained technicians on a contractual basis to run the Plasma transfusion medicine department," a post shared by Rane on social media site read.
He said that he had held a meeting with Dr Bandekar (Dean, GMC) and others to discuss the prospects of plasma therapy in the state.
He further said that "an institutional expert committee will be formed to look into the technicality of the procedure and keep track of records from COVID hospital. Initially our aim is to store 1000 packets of plasma, for which we will be procuring two Blood Plasma Freezers. Patients between the age of 18 to 60 years can donate their plasma for COVID-19 patients."
As per the Union Health Ministry on Saturday, Goa has 1,482 COVID-19 cases including 744 active cases while 734 patients have been cured and discharged in the State so far. Four deaths have been reported in the State due to the infection.
( With inputs from ANI )