In a bid to treat coronavirus patients, a plasma bank started functioning at a hospital in Assam on July 3 with the first donor being a doctor who recovered from COVID-19, the Health and Family Welfare Minister said.

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The plasma bank has been set up at the Guwahati Medical College Hospital (GMCH), he said. The donor is the first doctor who tested positive for COVID-19 in the state at the GMCH, he said, while expressing his gratitude to him for donating plasma and to the team working at the bank. "Glad to share that we've started a #PlasmaBank at GMCH. The first convalescent donor is a doctor himself, a #COVID19 patient," the Minister said in a tweet.

The Minister also urged people who have been cured of the disease to come forward and donate their plasma. The Minister interacted with coronavirus patients on July 3 evening at the GMCH, following alleged negligence by doctors and health workers at the facility. "In view of a systematic campaign to malign Assam government's efforts on #COVID19 management and feed false narratives, I personally visited COVID ward at GMCH and met over 40 recovering patients, who expressed satisfaction," the Minister tweeted.

The Minister also visited the COVID care hospitals at IIT, Guwahati and the Maniram Dewan Trade Centre here. "The upcoming 800 and 450-bed #COVID care hospitals at @IITGuwahati and Maniram Dewan Trade Centre, Guwahati respectively shall add up to our pandemic management facilities," he said in another tweet. Meanwhile, 221 patients have been discharged from various hospitals across the state on July 3.

Of the total 9,434 COVID-19 cases in the state, there are 3,090 active patients, and 6,327 have recovered from the disease. Fourteen people died of it and three migrated to other states.