Patient responding well to plasma therapy: Delhi hospital

The patient is the son of an elderly person who passed away on Wednesday due to COVID- 19.

The son and wife of the 80-year-old deceased too had tested positive.

The source said that the patient was on ventilator till Thursday afternoon. "He was given plasma treatment and he responded well. His mother has already been discharged," the source told IANS.

In the convalescent plasma therapy, the antibodies of a person who has recovered from the disease are taken and transfused into a person sick with the virus to help boost the latter's immune system.

However, the therapy is still awaiting a nod from the Drug Controller General of India (DCGI) who along with the Indian Council of Medical Research is in the process of giving approval to this line of treatment as a clinical trial and study.

"Even in case of pending approval on a life-saving drug, there is something called off-label indication under compassionate grounds. Under this clause the patient's family has the right to demand a treatment -- which then goes through a process of audio, visual consents and legal approvals and nod given by the hospital's ethics committee," the source said.

Meanwhile, a guard of the building who was accused by the family of spreading coronavirus had tested negative, the PRO of Ram Manohar Lohia Hospital told IANS.

"If he develops symptoms in some days, he will have to voluntarily come for a second round of test. Right now, he has tested negative for COVID-19," he said.

Speaking to IANS, Defence Colony RWA President Major Ranjit Singh said: "There are many houses in the Defence Colony which are under surveillance. People are sad due to this death. There is, of course, fear among the area residents. No outsiders like hawkers etc are allowed into the colony; only one member from a family goes out to buy essentials. We have created a Whatsapp group and keep informing the residents on safety measures. The society has been disinfected three to four times now."