Encourage plasma donations, Odisha CM asks 20 ministers

Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik on Saturday assigned 20 ministers from the Council of Ministers the responsibility of encouraging plasma donations in the state in light of the significant response of plasma therapy in COVID-19 treatment.

According to the Chief Minister's office, the ministers will assess the progress in plasma donations on a regular basis across the state.

The Odisha government has set up a Plasma Bank at Cuttack and two more will come up at the Capital Hospital in Bhubaneshwar and Maharaja Krishna Chandra Gajapati Medical College & Hospital in Ganjam district's Brahmapur.

Plasma therapy has been started at the Srirama Chandra Bhanja Medical College and Ashwini Hospital in Cuttack, SUM Hospital and the All India Institute of Medical Sciences in Bhubaneshwar, and the Tata COVID Hospital in Ganjamt.

According to Odisha's health department, the state now has a total of 22,693 COVID-19 cases, including 7,339 active cases and 15,201 recoveries.

So far, 120 COVID-19 deaths have been reported from the state.

( With inputs from ANI )