Maha CM Uddhav launches largest plasma project
MUMBAI: Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray on Monday launched convalescent plasma therapy-cumtrial project for treatment of critical COVID-19 patients with a state medical education department official calling it the largest initiative of its kind in the world.
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. “The project, titled ‘’Platina’’, is the largest convalescent plasma therapy-cum-trial project in the world. With it, we intend to save lives of some 500 critical COVID-19 patients. The trial will be held in 17 medical colleges under department of medical education and drugs, and four BMC- run colleges in Mumbai,” the official said. All critical patients will receive two doses of 200 ml convalescent plasma free of cost, he added.
Meanwhile, amid the rising number of coronavirus cases in Maharashtra’s Aurangabad city, the civic body has decided to convert the Divisional Sports Complex here into a COVID care centre, an official said on Monday. The Divisional Sports Complex, spread over 28 acres in Garkheda area of the city, is one of the biggest sports facilities in the state’’s Marathwada region. Aurangabad Municipal Corporation has acquired the sports complex to convert into a COVID care centre and a quarantine facility, civic health officer Neeta Padalkar said.