As COVID-19 cases continue to rise in Punjab, the State government on Thursday gave the go-ahead for the establishment of a plasma bank to facilitate treatment, which is already being carried out as an Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) trial project in the State’s government hospitals.

Chairing a video conference review meeting of the pandemic situation, Chief Minister Amarinder Singh approved the establishment of the bank. It would serve as a ready inventory source for seriously ill patients or those at risk of severe disease, and thus will enable a wider range of adults to be treated with convalescent plasma, said an official statement.

Of the 15 patients recruited for the trial, 8 were given plasma and the rest had been placed in the control arm as per the randomisation by the ICMR. Five patients have recovered completely and shall be discharged soon. The meeting was informed that 11 of the 300 recovered patients have donated plasma so far, according to the statement.

Cases registered: DGP

Expressing concern over the increasing violations of safety norms, many of them by political parties, the Chief Minister said he will write to the presidents of all the registered political parties to seek their cooperation in checking large gatherings. Dinkar Gupta, DGP, said the police had registered cases against some of the political parties for violation of the safety norms.

Pointing out that 258 cases had been reported on Wednesday, with 11 PCS-cadre officers and other senior officers including Sangrur chief medical officer infected so far, the Chief Minister stressed on raising the guard even further.

Sharing details of the Rapid Antigen Testing set to start for early detection and management of the infections, advisor (Health) Dr. K.K. Talwar said Amritsar, Jalandhar, Ludhiana, Mohali, and Patiala districts had been identified for the pilot.

Punjab recorded 234 cases on Thursday and reported five more deaths taking the tally to 183, according to the Health department.

679 cases surface in Haryana

The number of positive cases has reached 7,140. The major chunk of the new cases, 57 and 42, were reported from Ludhiana and Patiala districts respectively. The Health department said the active cases are 2,012 and 4,945 patients have so far been cured.

In Haryana, 679 cases surfaced taking the tally of cumulative cases to 19,369. It also reported five deaths taking the tally to 287. The major chunk of the new cases, 182 and 151, were reported from Faridabad and Gurugram districts respectively. The active cases are 4,572 and 14,510 patients have so far been discharged, the statement said.