New Delhi: The total number of Coronavirus cases in the national Capital on Friday rose to 2,514, with 138 new cases and three fresh deaths being reported in a day, according to the Delhi government authorities.
Of the total number of 53 fatalities reported till date, 29 of the deceased were aged 60 years and above, making over 54 per cent of the total death cases, they said.
Fourteen of them were aged between 50-59 years and 10 were aged less than 50 years, officials said.
By Thursday night, the number of cases of the deadly virus in the city stood at 2,376 including 50 deaths.
With three more fatalities, the death toll from COVID-19 in Delhi has risen to 53.
Earlier in the day, Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal appealed to the patients, who recovered through plasma therapy to donate plasma and help other patients.
Kejriwal said, "Our efforts in the fight against Corona are two-fold: First, how to contain the spread of the virus which includes social distancing, lockdown and various other measures and second, how to control the deaths caused by the pandemic."
"Once a person recovers from Coronavirus, anti-bodies are formed in his blood, which is then transferred into a recovering person's body. We got the trial permission for patients admitted to the LNJP hospital, and we have tried the therapy on four patients and the results are satisfactory. Dr. Sarin, who is the head of ILBS hospital, is monitoring the whole project," added the CM.
Dr. Sarin said, "This virus has three phases, first is when the virus enters the body, second is the pulmonary phase which affects the lungs and causes difficulty in breathing. The third phase is when cytokines are released which produce substances that can kill the virus. The third stage involves high risk as it can lead to organ failure. If the person is treated through plasma therapy in the second stage itself, we can neutralise the virus as well as stop organ failure. We will also be testing the therapy on 2-3 patients in the LNH hospital, and I hope that it works for the better."
The CM said, "The plasma transplant on two out of the four patients was done on Tuesday. Both of them were in ICU, and the MD of LNJP has told me that they will be shifted to the ward today. The respiratory rate of the first patient was 30 when it should be 15 and the oxygen saturation level was 85 per cent which should be 95 per cent. After the plasma therapy, their respiratory rate is 20 and the oxygen saturation level is 98 per cent. This has been observed in all the patients whose respiratory rates and oxygen saturation levels have improved. The two patients will be discharged from the ICU and the remaining two patients have also shown excellent results."
"We had got the permission of limited trials by the Central government. They had permitted us to conduct the trial on some patients admitted to LNJP hospital and then notify them of their success for further therapy trials. After the next 2-3 more trials, we will apply for permission for plasma therapy to be given to serious COVID-19 patients across Delhi," Kejriwal said.
He added, "It is the responsibility of the people who have recovered to come forward and help those who are still recovering. Your plasma will be transferred only into those patients who are very critical.
All those who have recovered and have been discharged will get a call from us, we will send the car for you and the process will be done under the careful supervision of our experienced doctors."