Telangana Govt plans to set up antibody blood banks
Tribune News Service
Hyderabad, April 6
As Covid-19 cases rise, the Telangana Government is considering setting up blood banks that will store antibody-rich plasma from patients who have recovered from the infection. This plasma will help Covid patients to recover quicker with the help of injected antibodies.
App for tracking
CM K Chandershekhar Rao instructs deployment of India’s first automated ‘Covid-19 Monitoring System App’ to identify, undertake live surveillance, track, monitor, and provide real-time analytics.
Senior Cabinet Minister KT Rama Rao (KTR), working president of the Telangana Rashtrya Samithi (TRS) and son of the Chief Minister, said the Health Department has been asked to work on the proposal.
The idea for setting up Covid-19 blood banks was mooted by Kiran Mazumdar Shaw, Executive Chairperson, Biocon Limited, after which KTR tweeted: “Yesterday good friend Kiran Shaw called me and suggested that we set up a ‘Covid blood bank’ in Telangana; with antibody-rich plasma from patients who had recovered from Covid.”
Telangana is currently placed at number four among states with regard to the number of Covid-19 patients in the country. With 334 confirmed Covid cases, of which 33 have recovered and 11 dead, the state has 290 active patients, majority of whom are in Hyderabad, Ranga Reddy and Medchal districts close to the state capital, possibly owing to better medical facilities.
