Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Thursday inaugurated the first ‘Plasma Bank’ in the country for the novel Coronavirus patients in the city and urged the COVID-19 survivors to come forward and donate plasma to save lives.

Addressing a virtual press conference, Kejriwal said, “Today I am announcing the plasma bank in Delhi. Plasma bank will solve the problems of COVID-19 patients.”

The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) national convener said the Plasma Bank will become a success if the people who have got treated from Coronavirus come forward and donate.

Kejriwal also launched the helpline number to register names for plasma donation. He said, “Those who want to donate can call directly on 1031 or WhatsApp on 8800007722 and the hospital will get in touch with you.”

The Chief Minister said that patients who were treated from COVID-19 and have completed 14 days after their treatment are eligible to donate plasma. He said that the people who want to donate must be between 18 and 60 age groups and must have weight above 50 kg.

Kejriwal further said that cancer survivors, females who have undergone pregnancy, people with diabetics and taking insulin, persons with hypertension or high blood pressure ailments, and those with kidney, heart and lung disease cannot be a plasma donor.

“But the people who don’t have these symptoms and have been treated fully should come forward and donate plasma to save lives,” Kejriwal said.

“Very few get the chance to save lives of others, so please come forward and donate,” he said, adding that plasma donation does not make people physically weak and it takes just an hour to do it.

The ‘Plasma Bank’ has been set up at the Institute of Liver and Biliary Sciences, Delhi.

The AAP leader further said that the death rate, which was high in the national capital a fortnight ago with 100 plus fatalities, has come down to half. “Now on an average over 60 to 65 fatalities are there, which a fortnight ago was over 100 to 120,” Kejriwal said.

He said that till the time vaccine is not ready, plasma is more helpful for treating Coronavirus infected patients.

He said that many other states are also using plasma therapy to treat COVID-19 patients.

The Delhi Chief Minister had on Monday announced that the state government has decided to start a ‘Plasma Bank’ in the national capital for the treatment of Coronavirus patients.

He also informed that whoever who needs plasma will need recommendation from a doctor.

Plasma therapy was among the five weapons Kejriwal had recently mentioned to fight the deadly infection, while asserting that the treatment turned out to be a life-saver for people in the capital.

Last week, raking up his slogan of “Corona harega aur Delhi jeetega”, Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal had asserted that his government has adopted ‘five weapons’ to fight the virus – ramping up bed capacity; testing and isolation, survey and screening, providing oximeter and oxygen concentrator and finally treatment with plasma therapy.

On Wednesday, Kejriwal at a press briefing, had said that the Coronavirus situation in the national capital is “under control” citing a reduction in infections as predicted for June.

He said that it was predicted that by 30 June, Delhi would have 1 lakh cases out of which 60,000 would be active cases but today “we only have 26,000 active cases.”

Last month, he had projected an exponential growth in the city’s COVID cases. “We would hit one lakh cases and would require 15,000 beds by June 30,” he had warned.

The AAP government had earlier said that it was expecting 5.5 lakh cases by July 31.

Meanwhile, in a positive development, Delhi has moved down to the third spot with a total of 89,802 Coronavirus cases, including 2,803 deaths and 59,992 recoveries.