Plasma donation gets good response as recovery rate shoots up in Kashmir
SRINAGAR: Jammu and Kashmir on Thursday recorded 11 deaths and 536 fresh Covid-19 infections. However, at the same time 779 more people were cured and discharged from different hospitals amid promising results for plasma therapy in Kashmir. The total number of positive cases in the Union Territory reached 26,949 while 19,302 people have recovered.
Officials said that in the short span of one-and-a-half months around 100 patients had received convalescent plasma at Sheri-kashmir Institute of Medical Sciences (SKIMS).
“People responded with enthusiasm as voluntary donations for convalescent plasma is taking place at a great pace. People from all walks of life are volunteering to donate plasma amid the lockdown. The donors also include 30 doctors and paramedics,” said director SKIMS, Dr AG Ahangar.
Department of blood transfusion and immuno-hematology head Dr Romana Makhdoomi said after the installation of sophisticated and state-of-theart machine to carry out the procedure with precision, over 100 patients had received the therapy and benefitted from it.
“No transfusion-related complications have been reported from those who have received the therapy. Though detailed studies for evaluating the effectiveness of convalescent plasma on patients with COVID-19 are underway, preliminary reports suggest that many patients have benefitted from the treatment,” she said.
RECOVERY RATE CROSSES 71.6 %
The recovery rate in the UT crossed 71.6 % the highest so far after 779 more people were cured and discharged from different hospitals, taking the overall recoveries to 19,302. Active cases in the UT stand at 7,138.
A government spokesperson said 218 people were discharged in Jammu division and 561 in Kashmir. Of the total, 14,991 were cured in Kashmir and 4,311 in Jammu division.
Of the new cases, 438 are reported in Kashmir, including 79 travellers and 98 from Jammu division, including 45 travellers. Of the 26,949 cases in J&K, 5,318 were travellers, a spokesperson said. Officials said 11 more people have succumbed to the disease, nine of them in Kashmir and two in Jammu.
With this, the death toll in the UT has risen to 509 with 470 fatalities in Kashmir and 39 in Jammu division till date. The highest single day spike of 17 deaths, since the pandemic spread, was recorded on July 30. The death toll had crossed 300mark on July 25. As many as 276 persons have died in July alone.
In Kashmir, the highest jump in fresh cases was witnessed in Srinagar where 144 more people tested positive followed by Bandipora at 54, and Baramulla and Kupwara at 46 cases each.in Jammu division, 49, the highest number of cases were reported in Jammu district and 15 in Reasi district.