PHOTOS: Former COVID-19 patients donate plasma in Kurdistan's Erbil

ERBIL (Kurdistan 24) – Blood donation centers in the Kurdistan Region have witnessed a marked increase in visits by plasma donors who are former coronavirus patients.

Kurdistan 24 visited a health center in Erbil, where many people who have recovered from the coronavirus go to donate plasma to current patients in need.

The Director-General of Erbil Blood Bank, Hoshyar Yaseen, said on Saturday that they would be sending blood plasma, used to treat coronavirus patients, to parts of the region where it is needed most.

"After the increase in the number of coronavirus infections, we were able to gather a lot of blood plasma from recovered patients," and met all of Erbil's demand, said Yaseen.

Yaseen explained that about 30 recovered coronavirus patients visit blood banks in Erbil every day, over half of which have developed the necessary resistance against the virus.

Earlier in the day, the Kurdistan Region's Ministry of Health said it had recorded just over 500 new coronavirus infections and 13 deaths due to the disease over the past 24 hours.