Expressing his gratitude to the Delhi Police for this initiative he said, “It is very sad that a dozen Delhi police personnel died due to Corona. In spite of these casualties, they are doing a great job deploying personnel to contain the spread, while the number of containment zones has jumped from 200 to 600.”

दान अर्थात देने का भाव, अर्पण करने की निष्काम भावना।#AIIMS, Delhi में #plasmadonation Campaign में #PlasmaWarriors @DelhiPolice के जवानों ने #plasma donate कर साबित कर दिया कि दिल्ली पुलिस सचमुच 'दिल की पुलिस' है। इस Campaign का शुभारंभ आज मैंने किया।@HMOIndia
@AmitShah pic.twitter.com/6JBar6xwYL

— Dr Harsh Vardhan (@drharshvardhan) July 19, 2020

The Minister saluted the contribution of these volunteers by conferring certificates to 26 Police constables. Of these, Shri Om Prakash was donating his plasma for the third time today.  The Union Minister stated that these donations will have a long-lasting impact on other countrymen who will get inspired to donate their plasma. Every single donor counts in our journey towards victory over COVID-19 and we need more and more of these plasma warriors to help fight the pandemic till a definitive treatment or vaccine is developed, he added.

He acknowledged the huge potential of this strategy and the government’s will to tap into it. He commented, “As of now convalescent plasma therapy has been approved for compassionate use with various plasma banks being set up to ensure round the clock availability. Despite the fact that India has one of the highest cure rates amongst COVID-19 patients, the plasma donations has yet to pick up. I am happy that AIIMS, New Delhi is organising this plasma donation campaign with the support of Delhi Police Corona Warriors.”

Plasma from recovered COVID-19 patients contains protective antibodies to the novel SARS-CoV-2 virus. It can provide immunity to patients of Covid-19 when transfused.  Considering its potential benefit, plasma therapy is provided to those patients who are not responding to conventional treatment. Anyone who has recovered from COVID-19, and has completed 28 days after the completion of treatment or home isolation, is between 18 to 60 years of age with a weight of more than 50 kg is eligible to donate their blood plasma.
The Blood Bank will assess their eligibility for blood donation and check the level of COVID-19 protective antibody levels in their blood before they can donate. The blood of a survivor usually has a high concentration of such antibodies and when given to a susceptible person, these antibodies circulate in blood, reach tissues and neutralize the virus. The process of donation is completed in one to three hours and plasma can be collected on same day.

More than 23,600 people cured in India

Proactive measures of Central and State/UT governments of aggressive testing and timely diagnosis has helped in detecting cases early. Effective clinical management of the moderate and severe cases through a well-executed Standard of Care protocol has ensured high rate of recovery among the COVID patients.

The last 24 hours saw a sharp increase of 23,672 COVID patients recovering. The gap between recovered patients and active COVID-19 cases has further increased to 3,04,043. The total number of recovered cases is 6,77,422. The recovery rate as of now is at 62.86%.

Medical attention is being provided to all the 3,73,379 active cases, in hospitals and home isolation.

The country’s testing infrastructure has been substantially ramped up. The testing strategy prescribed by ICMR allows all registered medical practitioners to recommend testing. The Rapid Antigen Point of Care (POC) Test coupled with the facilitation of widespread gold-standard RT-PCR based testing by States/UTs has resulted in a surge in the number of samples tested. 3,58,127 samples have been tested in the last 24 hours. With total of 1,37,91,869 samples tested the testing per million (TPM) for India has reached 9994.1.

Consistently expanding diagnostic lab network comprises of 1262 labs, including 889 labs in the government sector and 373 private labs.

The post Harsh Vardhan flags off plasma donation campaign appeared first on The Gulf Indians.

Sisters and Brothers,

Ever since I tested positive for #COVID19, I have received numerous messages wishing me speedy recovery.

I am forever indebted to Your concern & affection towards me.

With the blessings of Guru Dattatreya & Your wishes, I will recover very soon. Thank You

— C T Ravi ?? ಸಿ ಟಿ ರವಿ (@CTRavi_BJP) July 13, 2020

In late June, Karnataka Medical Education Minister K Sudhakar’s wife and daughter tested positive for COVID-19, a day after his father was confirmed to have been infected with the virus.
In April, the minister was quarantined along with three other ministers for coming in contact with a journalist who was coronavirus positive.
Earlier, Maharashtra’s Social Justice Minister Dhananjay Munde had tested positive for coronavirus . He is the third minister in the Uddhav Thackeray-led government to have been infected. Public Works Department Minister Ashok Chavan and Housing Minister Jitendra Awhad were infected but recovered later.

The post Karnataka Tourism Minister tests positive for COVID-19 appeared first on The Gulf Indians.

The cost of the Hope Mars Mission is among the lowest in the world at US$ 200 million compared with similar programmes, said UAE Minister of Cabinet Affairs Mohammad bin Abdullah Al Gergawi.
At a media briefing in Dubai on June 7, Al Gergawi elaborated the achievements of the Emirates Mars Mission team. This includes development of 200 new designs, manufacturing of 66 pieces of the probe components in the UAE, publishing 51 research papers on the project, and benefitting over 60,000 participants through EMM’s scientific and academic programmes.
“Today, the mission reached another milestone, when the spacecraft was positioned on to the rocket that will send it into space,” he said. “Commitment to deadlines is an approach that the UAE is following in all its plans and projects.”
The Mission’s success, Al Gergawi said, is in line with the UAE’s success in containing the coronavirus.
The Hope Probe is set to lift off on July 15 at 00:51:27 UAE time from the Tanegashima Space Centre, Japan. The probe is anticipated to enter the Mars orbit in February 2021, coinciding with the UAE’s Golden Jubilee celebrations.

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