Bengaluru, July 15: In bid to encourage plasma donation, the Karnataka government announced a reward of Rs 5,000 each. Those eligible for receiving the cash incentive are COVID-19 patients who have successfully recovered from the disease. The extracted plasma of cured patients is proving to be crucial reducing the mortality rate due coronavirus.

"State Government will give Rs 5000 each as appreciation money to the plasma donors," Dr Sudhakar K, Karnataka Minister for Medical Education, announced on Wednesday. Kerala's First Plasma Bank Set Up at Government Medical College Hospital in Manjeri.

The Minister appealed all recovered patients across Karnataka to consider it as their duty to donate plasma. Their donations can saves several lives, Sudhakar added.

Update by ANI

Karnataka has so far reported a total 44,704 cases, making it the second worst-affected state in southern India after Tamil Nadu. It is among the few states where the tally of active infections is larger than the number of recoveries.

The state has 25,839 active cases as opposed to 17,390 recoveries. Death toll, as per the last update, stands at 842. The government is hopeful that plasma therapy could reduce the fatality rate due the disease.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Jul 15, 2020 08:14 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).