Bhubaneswar: With a sharp hike in COVID-19 cases in the state, the government is taking expeditious steps to develop SCB Medical College and Hospital as a hub for plasma therapy.
Speaking to reporters here, Institute of Life Sciences (ILS) director Ajay Kumar Parida Friday said plasma therapy treatment will start at four hospitals in the state very soon.
Within next 10 to 12 days, Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik will inaugurate four such facilities at SCB Medical College and Hospital, KIMS, SUM Hospital and Ashwini Hospital, he said, adding, preparations are underway to make SCB a hub of plasma therapy.
The government has also decided to enhance the Covid testing rate in the state, the director said after attending a meeting held under the chairmanship of additional chief secretary (ACS) PK Mohapatra.
The ILS director said at present, more than 5,000 RT-PCR tests are being conducted per day and the target has been set to ramp up the testing capacity to 6,000 per day.
“Keeping in view the rising number of COVID cases, the discussions hovered over how the testing capacity can be ramped up. Last week, 5,600 to 5,700 tests were conducted per day and in order to bridge the gap, it has been decided to increase the tests to 6000 per day,” he said.
The government has also decided to conduct 2,000 antigen tests in the state per day. In this regard, the state government would procure 1 lakh rapid antigen test kits. It has so far received 30,000 antigen test kits.
He said National Health Mission (NHM) director Shalini Pandit will brief the Chief Medical Officers and microbiologists on the guidelines with regard to the technicalities of the antigen tests to be carried out in district headquarters hospitals from next week.
In the next few days, the ethical committee’s approval, standard operating procedure (SOP), and formulation of state-specific guidelines for plasma therapy will be completed, he added.
