Duterte urges COVID-19 survivors to donate blood
MANILA, Philippines — President Rodrigo Duterte asked those who have recovered from COVID-19 to donate blood so they may help treat those severely ill from the pathogen.
In a televised meeting past midnight Thursday, Duterte urged those who survived COVID-19 to donate their blood, citing the University of the Philippines-Philippine General Hospital's ongoing study on how transfusion from survivors may help those infected.
“Those in UP... those who recovered, they gain anti-bodies... If you survived COVID, this means your anti-bodies, that fought the virus, are in your body,” he said in Filipino.
“Do it as goodwill. And I think if it were me, I should volunteer. That is the way of thanking God that you have survived,” Duterte said.
PGH's call
Dr. Jonas Del Rosario, spokesperson of PGH, called for blood donations last week.
He told GMA News' Dobol B sa News TV that those who have recovered or are"COVID-19 survivors" carry antibodies in their blood. “Because they have recovered, they have produced an immune response through their antibodies.”
Del Rosario, however, said that this is not a standard practice and still in the “experimental stage.” He said that this was also done in past pandemics.
Convalescent plasma, the fluid in blood teeming with antibodies post-illness, has proven effective in small studies to treat infectious diseases including Ebola and SARS.
In the United States, its Food and Drug Administration has greenlit physicians to experiment with the strategy as coronavirus patients fill hospitals and the nations positive caseload spikes to 236,000.
Duterte also hailed the efforts of those in UP in battling the pandemic. “Ang pag-asa natin is—including UP, itong atin ipagmalaki rin natin ang mga doctor. Iyang mga bright.” — Kristine Joy Patag
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