JAGATSINGHPUR: Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik’s call to the recovered Covid patients to come forward and donate plasma for saving lives notwithstanding, not a single donor has turned up for the cause in Jagatsinghpur district.
Of the total 1,327 Covid-19 cases in the district, 965 have recovered and discharged from the hospital. Not one of the cured persons has donated plasma as yet.
Such lack of response to the CM’s call is being attributed to low awareness among people and indifference of the administration.
Sources said the health administration and elected representatives are to be blamed for the poor show of the district in plasma donation. A Covid-19 survivor, Rakesh Mohanty of Chatiana village under Naugaon block said though he agreed to donate plasma after being convinced by the local sarpanch, no one from the health department has approached him so far. “Neither the health nor block officials have shown any interest to contact me for donation of plasma,” he alleged.
Another female patient who recovered from coronavirus said on conditions of anonymity, “After my reports came negative, I thought of donating plasma to save a life but till now, no one from the administration has contacted me for the noble cause.” Even the sarpanchs, who were assigned the powers of collector to fight against the virus, have done precious little toward plasma donation. Naugaon’s Jamugaon sarpanch Lalatendu Parida said the district administration has not yet communicated anything related to plasma donation to him. “Despite the indifference of the health officials towards the cause, I personally took interest and convinced three recovered patients. But, the health department is yet to collect plasma from them,” he said.
Sarpanch of Borikina panchayat in Balikuda block Sadhu Charan Sahu said, “The Government is not involving sarpanchs in its plasma donation drive. So many sarpanchs are not taking interest in convincing cured patients to donate plasma.”Incidentally, MLA of Balikuda-Erasama in the district and Water Resources Minister Raghunandan Das has been assigned the task of promoting plasma donation in Jagatsinghpur by the Chief Minister.
Contacted, chief district medical officer Bijaya Panda admitted that not a single unit of plasma has been collected in Jagatsinghpur but said, “We have convinced around 10 recovered patients to donate their plasma. Efforts are on start plasma therapy in the district by convincing more Covid-19 survivors to come forward for plasma donation.”