COVID-19: Calcutta Medical College to have plasma bank, Beliaghata ID Hospital will have centre of excellence

West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee on Monday announced that the Calcutta Medical College & Hospital will have a plasma bank. Plasma from those who have been cured of Novel Coronavirus (COVID-19) helps in curing patients who are currently getting treated for COVID-19 and are critical.

A person who has recovered from COVID is able to make antibodies against it and without any pre-existing ailments a person is considered healthy and fit to donate blood plasma for the benefit of patients who are in critical condition.

Monami Biswas, who was among the first in West Bengal to be cured of COVID-19, is the first plasma donor in the state. In May-end, Biswas had fulfilled all the requisites and had donated plasma at the Medical College & Hospital. The plasma donation procedure is exactly the same as donating blood – with blood drawn from the body through a needle. Apart from Monami Biswas, a Kolkata Police traffic sergeant has also donated plasma for trial.

Meanwhile, the Beliaghata Infectious Diseases Hospital will have a centre of excellence. Among all the hospitals that are treating COVID-19 patients in Bengal, Beliaghata ID Hospital has been leading from the front with the best success rates of patients’ survival and discharge.

Currently, West Bengal has 22,126 COVID-19 cases so far, with 6,658 active cases as on July 5. Bengal’s discharge rate has been impressive right now, at 66.48 per cent. There were 895 new cases reported on July 5, and 11,016 samples were tested during the last 24 hours.