The Ministry of Health (MoH) has started using plasma from recovered COVID-19 patients to treat critically ill patients in The Royal Hospital. 

The transfusion is part an effort to provide this plasma, also known as convalescent plasma, to people who are ill with life-threatening disease such as COVID-19.  

People who’ve recovered from COVID-19 often have antibodies – proteins in the blood – that could possibly attack the virus. 

The ministry said that it has in cooperation with the Central Blood Bank and The Royal Hospital succeeded in conducting the extraction of plasma from those patients who have recovered from COVID-19 infection. 

‘Many patients have cooperated to donate plasma in accordance with international regulations and standards. 

Technical screening procedures were carried out in the laboratories of the Central Blood Bank to extract the convalescent plasma and then transfuse it into critical cases in The Royal Hospital. 

‘These patients are currently subjected to close monitoring to measure the effectiveness of this technique,’ the ministry stated.