The coronavirus outbreak continues to rise India. With almost every state of the country affected, it has come to state governments to put best of their efforts to curb the virus as well as provide the adequate medical facilities to those infected with it.
In a major development, Punjab Chief Minister, Amarinder Singh, on Thursday said that plasma will be provided free of cost by the state government to all those who would need it for the treatment.
The Chief Minister has directed the Health Department strictly that no covid patients shall be charged for plasma therapy in the state, moreover, nobody is allowed to buy or sell plasma, an official order said.
Earlier, on Sunday, the Department of Medical Education and Research had first announced that government would provide plasma to private hospitals from its plasma bank at a cost of ₹20,000 per unit.
State Health Advisor has now defended the move by saying that it was a cross subsidy and the money collected from private hospitals could be used in helping poor patients.
The Chief Minister has also urged recovered patients to come forward and donate plasma to save live of other patients. He has requested DCs and Health Department officials to motivate such patients to donate plasma.
Currently, there are around 10,000 recovered Covid patients in the state.
Expressing concern over the spike in the number of cases everyday in the state, the CM also asked Health Minister Balbir Singh Sidhu to send a feasible strategy for earmarking 10 beds in all district hospitals for treatment and care of mild and minor cases of infections.
He said that the primary goal is to save each and every live in Punjab.
Meanwhile, Chief Secretary Vini Mahajan has proposed that all the field officers, including DCs and SSPs, should remain at their headquarter towns even at night for the next two months, as this is the most crucial stage of the outbreak in the state.
