India is witnessing an unprecedented rise in COVID-19 cases and amidst all this, a severe shortage of plasma, ventilator beds and other coronavirus related drugs is also being reported country wide.
On Monday (April 19), the Gaudham Buddh Nagar Police in Uttar Pradesh started a new initiative to facilitate plasma for COVID-19 patients.
Plasma therapy is very crucial for the treatment of COVID-19 and help the immune system fight the infection. It involves taking antibodies from the blood of a person who has already recovered from the disease.
The police commissionerate has launched a helpline number to connect people in need of plasma with donors, officials said.
The helpline number is - 8851066433
A Google document form has also been created by the district police to provide information of the patient for finding a plasma donor. The document can be accessed online by people.
Here is the direct link to the document form- https://docs.google.com/forms/
According to the police, this initiative is aimed at two purposes- both receiving as well as donating plasma.
Senior police officials have urged people to donate plasma and join the police officials who have recovered from COVID-19 and are volunteering for plasma donation.
“Please help more people join this initiative for plasma donation so that a collective effort can be made to overcome this humanitarian crisis and save lives,” Additional Deputy Commissioner of Police Ranvijay Singh said.
Gautam Buddh Nagar is one of the worst-hit districts of Uttar Pradesh with over 103 COVID-19 related deaths and 3,300 active cases so far.