In the two weeks since a plasma bank was set up in Gurugram for COVID-19 patients, only 42 people have come forward to donate. Of these, only 19 fulfilled the criteria for donation.
The positivity rate in Gurugram has dipped below 7% for the first time since the outbreak and the fatality rate continues to hover around 1.3%.
Gurugram Chief Medical Officer Virender Yadav on Tuesday expressed concern over the lukewarm response to the plasma bank and said that only 38 units of plasma could be collected from 19 people so far. He said there was a need to reach out to the masses through social and mainstream media to create awareness for plasma donation.
Mr. Yadav said that 50 hoardings have been put up across the district to raise awareness.
Set up in collaboration with the Rotary Blood Bank, the plasma bank currently has only five units available.
Mr. Yadav, however, said that Gurugram was on the verge of being the first district in the State to conduct 1 lakh tests per million. “We have already conducted 98,363 tests per million,” he added.
The recovery rate for COVID-19 is 91.79% in Gurugram and the cases are doubling every 94 days.
Mr. Yadav said that a serological survey will begin on Wednesday, after a delay of two days, and 850 tests will be conducted across the district.
Deputy Commissioner Amit Khatri said the average number of cases in Gurugram continues to hover around 700, out of which nearly 600 are in home isolation. He said that special camps are being held in industrial areas to conduct COVID-19 tests.
Around 1,000 tests have been conducted on the workforce in industries so far.