Pasig City Mayor Vico Sotto on Tuesday called on recovered patients of coronavirus disease (COVID-19) to donate their plasma to help those who are still grappling with the highly infectious disease.
“You survived COVID. Now be a hero! Through the help of St. Luke's BGC, COVID survivors may now donate plasma for our patients,” Sotto said in a tweet.
In an advisory shared by Sotto, interested donors must submit both their positive and negative polymerase chain reaction (PCR) test results. In the absence of a negative swab test, the donor must be asymptomatic for more than 28 days.
Plasma donors must be 18 to 65 years old and at least 50 kilograms in weight. They should also furnish a copy of their recent enhanced chemiluminescence immunoassay (ECLIA) test result.
Those who wish to donate may contact the Pasig City Children's’ Hospital Laboratory through 8643-222 local 303. The hospital is the city’s referral center for COVID-19 patients.
“All blood types are welcome,” the advisory stated, noting that donors will still have to be subjected to a screening at St. Luke’s Medical Center in Bonifacio Global City, Taguig.
There is still no cure for COVID-19. But health experts said that convalescent plasma, a component of the blood, may be vital in treating COVID-19 patients because of the presence of antibodies that can help boost the immune system.
Health Secretary Francisco Duque III earlier said that Convalescent Plasma Therapy is still being studied as possible treatment for COVID-19.