Jain had tested positive on June 17.
Delhi Health Minister Satyendar Jain was Friday discharged from Max Hospital after testing negative for Covid-19. The 55-year-old minister, who was administered plasma therapy, had tested positive on June 17, a day after he was admitted to Delhi government’s Rajiv Gandhi Super Speciality Hospital (RGSSH) with high-grade fever and a drop in oxygen levels.
On June 22, Jain was moved out of the ICU of the dedicated Covid facility, two days after he was administered plasma therapy. The 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.
Delhi Chief minister Arvind Kejriwal said the number of deaths due to Covid-19 in Delhi has come down since Lok Nayak Hospital started using the therapy. “It may be difficult to save very serious patients using plasma therapy, but it can help moderate patients by not letting their condition worsen. This is what we have found till now,” he said Friday.
In Delhi, seven institutes, including AIIMS, Maulana Azad Medical College in coordination with Institute of Liver and Biliary Sciences, Indraprastha Apollo Hospital, Batra Hospital, Lady Hardinge Medical College, Ram Manohar Lohia Hospital and Max Hospital Saket have been approved to participate in the trials.
The CM said that RGSSH has also received the nod to start trials. “Nine patients have been administered the therapy in the first phase of the trial at Lok Nayak hospital and now we have received permission to conduct 200 more. Some private hospitals have also got separate permissions,” he said.
On April 16, the Delhi government received a go-ahead to use plasma therapy from ICMR. Earlier, Max Hospital Saket had also used the therapy on two patients. While one died, the other had shown improvement. But getting donors remains a challenge. During the first trial, ILBS in coordination with Lok Nayak hospital had contacted around 448 recovered Covid patients, out of which only 16 donated plasma.