The Maharashtra government today launched the largest plasma therapy trial for Covid-19. Launching the programme, Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray said Maharashtra will be the first state in the country to conduct an overarching trial on convalescent plasma therapy. Mr. Thackeray said that plasma donors are saviours.

He said the first plasma therapy trial was first conducted in April this year, after which permission was sought from the Centre to undertake more trials.The Chief Minister also said the Central team which visited the state has lauded the measures taken by the state government in containing Covid pandemic.

He said the infection is likely to increase during the unlocking phase. According to Mr. Thackeray, the Centre has granted permission to conduct convalescent plasma therapy trials at 23 centers but as of now, it will be done at 17 centers only. He further said a person who has recovered from the coronavirus infection can register himself on www.plasmayoddha.in and can express his willingness to donate plasma.

In Maharashtra, authorities are grappling to contain the COVID-19 which is rapidly spreading in every section of the society.

Along with civilians, medical personnel, police, and defense personnel to have been affected.

As many as, 67 policemen tested positive for the virus in the last 24 hours, while a total of 59 policemen have succumbed to the infection to date. Frontline workers who are more vulnerable to the virus have been facing the brunt of the infection in Maharashtra, the worst affected state due to Covid-19 in the country. And this is apparent as 67 more police personnel from the state have tested positive for COVID-19 in the last 24 hours. With this, the total number of police personnel affected by COVID -19 in the state has reached 4810 and the death toll going up to 59.

On the other hand, as many as 361 inmates have so far tested positive across 11 prisons of the state, of which 106 are active cases.94 prison staff have also tested positive while four deaths have been reported in these prisons.

Meanwhile, Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray has lauded Prime Minister Narendra Modi's decision to extend the Garib Kalyan Anna Yojana till November this year. He said the scheme will benefit seven crore people in the state of Maharashtra.

Keeping the pandemic situation in mind, the Maharashtra government extended the lockdown in the state is being extended till July 31st. The current lockdown was to end tomorrow.

An order issued by Chief Secretary Ajoy Mehta today said that wearing face covers or masks, maintaining social distancing, restricted gatherings, and other measures shall continue to prevail.

The state government has also advised that work from home should be followed as far as possible.

The order said private offices can operate with up to 10 percent strength or 10 people whichever is more.

Meanwhile, Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray today inaugurated the world's largest plasma therapy trial centre, in Nagpur via video conferencing.

Maharashtra is the first state in the country to experiment extensively with plasma therapy for Covid-19.