Dr Lithikesh donated his blood plasma today to become Assam's first convalescent donor.
A doctor who recovered from coronavirus became the first person in Assam to donate his plasma at the Guwahati Medical College today as the plasma bank there became operational.
Amid rise in COVID-19 cases in the state, especially in Guwahati where a total lockdown has been imposed for two weeks, the country's second plasma bank was started at the Guwahati Medical College (GMC) for collection of blood plasma from patients who have been cured of the disease.
India's first plasma bank was inaugurated in Delhi on Thursday. Plasma therapy involves transfusion of plasma from a convalescent coronavirus patient to a critical patient. The blood of a convalescent patient is rich in antibodies that are expected to help the critical patient recover.
In the last nine days, Guwahati has reported 1,833 coronavirus cases. Over 90 percent of the patients don't have any travel history.
A COVID care centre is also being planned at IIT Guwahati which was visited by Assam Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal and Health Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma today. The care centre will be an 800-bed facility, officials said.
The Assam government is trying to add at least 3,000 coronavirus treatment beds by next week and has also asked private hospitals to start preparations for COVID-19 treatment.
"Glad to share that we've started a Plasma Bank at GMCH. The first convalescent donor is a doctor himself, a COVID-19 patient. My gratitude to Dr Lithikesh for donating his plasma, and to the team who is working on this bank. I encourage cured patients to come forward and donate," the Assam health minister tweeted.
A student of GMC, Dr Lithikesh, from Karnataka, donated his blood plasma today to become Assam's first convalescent donor. The state government is reaching out to patients who have been cured of COVID-19 to volunteer for plasma donation.
"Our plasma therapy unit and plasma bank is now operational. With the first plasma collection, we have now started the process. We will now be able offer plasma therapy to patients who require it. This is important since not only are we witnessing a spike in cases, we are also getting more symptomatic cases," Superintendent of GMC Dr Abhijit Sharma said.
From Saturday, rapid antigen test kits will be used at 31 Corona Care Centres (CCC) of the government across Guwahati, just like the way it has been used in Delhi.
With a growth rate of 6.5 percent, Assam is now the third among states where the spread of the coronavirus is fastest. Karnataka and Telegana are the two other states, official sources said.
"That is why a strict lockdown has been imposed. We need to break this chain. We have identified the hotbeds, we have ramped up testing manifolds. From today, we have stated the rapid antigen tests so that we get the results within an hour and we can isolate the (coronavirus) positive patients early," Assam Minister of State for Health Pijush Hazarika said.
Assam opened an 800-bed makeshift COVID-19 hospital earlier this week at the Khanapara Playground, normally used for public programmes.
The state health department has also turned part of the Maniram Dewan Trade Centre, Northeast India's largest trade fair arena in Guwahati, into a Covid care centre which will have 450 beds, officials said.