Maha CM Uddhav launches Project Platina; 'World's largest Covid Convalescent plasma trial'

In view of the Coronavirus crisis, Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray on Monday launched a Rs 16.65 crore convalescent plasma therapy trial-- 'Project Platina'. According to the CMO, the project is the world’s largest trial-cum-treatment project of its kind, which is to benefit 500 lives of critically ill COVID-19 patients in Maharashtra. Further, the funding to support the plasma therapy trial has been done through the Chief Minister’s Relief Fund. 

Taking to Twitter, Maharashtra minister and the CM's son Aditya Thackeray made the announcement and stated that Maharashtra has been working on the plasma therapy ever since the COVID-19 fight started. He said that the trial treatment of the therapy will be free of cost in 17 medical colleges across the state. According to him, this step will not only give the world a large robust data for plasma therapy treatment but will also help to create an infrastructure for it across the state. 

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As per the CMO, all critical patients will be receiving two doses of 200 ml of convalescent plasma. The plasma of the recovered COVID-19 patients contains antibodies that help in fighting the infection. 

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COVID-19 in Maharashtra 

On Sunday, Maharashtra's COVID-19 tally soared to 1,64,626 after 5,493 persons tested positive for the virus. With 2330 patients being discharged in the day, the total number of recovered rose to 86,575. Meanwhile, 175 deaths were reported on Sunday. Overall, this includes 87 deaths from Mumbai, 26 from Thane, 20 from Pune, 8 from Nashik, 6 from Jalgaon, 4 from Solapur and one each from Jalna, Amravati, Yavatmal, Ratnagiri, and Sangli propelling the state's fatality toll to 7,429. Currently, the state's COVID-19 positivity rate, recovery rate, and fatality rate stands at 17.82%, 52.59%, and 4.51% respectively. Till now, a total of 9,23,502 samples have been tested for the novel coronavirus. 

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