2 plasma donation sites to open in N.J., recovered COVID-19 cases urged to donate – NJ.com

If you’ve had the coronavirus and recovered, the plasma in your blood could help save lives.

Plasma collected from recovered COVID-19 patients has been used to help treat people battling the disease since March, when the U.S. Food and Drug Administration launched an initiative to collect blood plasma.

That plasma, known as convalescent plasma, contains antibodies to COVID-19, according to the Mayo Clinic. When given to a patient currently fighting the disease, the antibodies in that plasma could give a boost to that patient.

Now, the American Red Cross is opening two sites to collect plasma in North Jersey, Gov. Phil Murphy announced at his daily briefing on Saturday.

“This is a partnership that we are extremely excited about,” Murphy said. “And, as we continue to follow the science, we know that it is just a matter of time before we defeat COVID-19.”

One of the collection sites will be at the Red Cross’ blood center in Fairfield, and the other will be at University Hospital in Newark.

“COVID-19 hit North Jersey hard, and Essex County is no exception,” Murphy said. “Essex has our third-highest total of positive cases, but also our highest number of deaths. The more we can attack this virus where its toll has been the greatest, the more lives we can save.”

Shereef Elnahal, president and CEO of University Hospital, said that the Newark collection site will open on Monday, and that appointments are already being booked.

“This will increase access to plasma donation opportunities for Newark, the surrounding region, and significantly increase capacity for plasma donations across New Jersey,” Elnahal said. “In other words, more patients in New Jersey will be able to get this therapy because of this new site.”

Murphy said that about 100 COVID-19 patients have been treated with plasma at University Hospital. Elnahal added that the hospital is leading a study on plasma treatment for COVID-19.

“The effectiveness of this treatment is not yet known, but many patients that have received this therapy at University Hospital have recovered, which is a promising sign,” Elnahal said.

Murphy added that other hospitals in the state have begun using the plasma treatment as well.

In April, two patients at Virtua Voorhees Hospital in Camden County that had received plasma treatment were taken off ventilators and moved out of intensive care after making “remarkable” recoveries.

Plasma treatment has been used in the past to treat diseases when no other treatment of vaccine has been available, notably measles and the 1918 influenza pandemic.

People who have recovered from the coronavirus and wish to donate plasma are asked to visit RedCrossBlood.org/plasma4covid for more information and to sign up.

New Jersey, a densely populated state of 9 million residents, has reported at least 9,116 deaths attributed to COVID-19, with at least 137,085 cases in the nine weeks since the outbreak began. Officials announced another 166 fatalities and 1,759 positive tests Saturday. Only New York has more deaths and cases among American states.

About half of the state’s COVID-19 deaths have come at longterm care facilities, such as nursing homes and veterans homes. More than half of known deaths have had underlying conditions, according to the state’s coronavirus tracking website. The state on Friday reported a 4-year-old girl with an underlying condition was the first child to die from COVID-19 complications.

Though officials say the daily number of cases and hospitalizations keep dropping, Murphy has yet to give a definitive timeline for gradually peeling back his the stay-at-home and business-closing orders he put in place seven weeks ago to help fight the virus. He said the state risks the numbers jumping again if reopening is rushed and has called on residents to keep social distancing.

The virus has also seriously damaged the state’s economy, with more than 1 million residents having filed for unemployment since mid-March. Many also say they’ve had to wait for weeks to get paid and have struggled to get through to the state’s phone and online systems. Businesses have suffered untold revenue losses, as well.

Meanwhile, lawmakers, businesses, and residents have been pushing Murphy to more swiftly peel back his restrictions. The governor allowed parks and golf courses to reopen last weekend, with social-distancing guidelines. And with Memorial Day about two weeks away, Murphy said, he may soon allow beaches and boardwalks to reopen with similar restrictions.

Plus, he said he is considering allowing retail stores offer curbside service.

The governor has formed a commission to draft a broader reopening. But he has said the state must meet milestones first — seeing daily case and hospitalizations drop for 14 days, widely increasing testing, and installing contact tracing and isolation programs.

Officials announced Friday that New Jersey’s two state-run testing sites will begin allowing asymptomatic residents to get tested Sunday.

Murphy said he plans to announce more about testing and contact tracing early next week.

NJ Advance Media staff writers Brent Johnson and Rebecca Everett contributed to this report.

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Michael Sol Warren may be reached at mwarren@njadvancemedia.com.