Goa: Two patients test negative post plasma therapy

PANAJI: The first two Covid patients who were administered convalescent plasma therapy (CPT) have tested negative for coronavirus. A total of 14 critically ill patients have been given the therapy so far, health secretary Nila Mohanan said on Friday.
The status of other patients who received CPT is yet to be known as their tests have not been done, she said.
Since last month, the government has been aggressively promoting CPT after Covid-19 fatalities started rising. On Friday, Goa’s count touched 93 after two deaths were reported. In fact, 48 deaths have been reported in the last 14 days.
Dr Uday Kakodkar, the new administrative head of ESI-Covid hospital in Margao, said the government is doing its best to provide case-specific treatment to patients. While the initial seven cases reported were asymptomatic, a surge in critical cases was witnessed from June 5 onwards. “The cases started rising after the Mangor Hill incidence,” Kakodkar said.
The death in some patients, he said, was hastened after contracting the virus due to their co-morbidities. The Covid hospital has registered 1,126 admissions, while 65 people have expired. “The hospital is treating very critical patients,” he said.
During the past two and a half months, 32 C-section surgeries were conducted in the hospital, and seven normal deliveries.
Two surgeries each, normal and orthopaedic, were conducted, including a cancer patient who was operated. The 21-bedded intensive care unit had a total of 121 admissions, while 42 patients died. “75% of critically ill patients have recovered, and it is a significant number,” Kakodkar said.
He also pointed out that the state’s Covid fatality rate is the lowest in the country, which works out to be less than 1%, while the recovery rate is 66%.
As many as 31 patients were given life-saving drug Remdesivir within a span of one month, while three patients were administered Tocilizumab. One course of Tocilizumab costs Rs 90,000 for a single patient, he said. A child who suffered an organ failure was administered IVIG - the drug that cost Rs 1.5 lakh.
“All these drugs have been provided free of cost to patients,” he added.