By Ismaeel Naar

DUBAI -- Kuwait’s health minister has asked those who have recovered from the COVID-19 coronavirus to donate their blood so that doctors could use the plasma to treat currently infected patients.

“We ask all those who recovered from the coronavirus to donate their blood to benefit from the plasma in treating the infected as this treatment has been medically proven positive,” Kuwaiti Health Minister Sheikh Dr. Basel Al-Sabah tweeted on Friday.

Plasma is the liquid part of the blood which carries cells and proteins through the body when taken from a convalescent – someone who has recovered from an illness – it contains antibodies that can fight said illness.

Late last month, a group of Chinese researchers managed to treat five critically ill coronavirus patients by administering convalescent plasma transfusion, which resulted in three patients fully recovering and returning home, and two patients’ conditions stabilizing, according to a study published.

Kuwait reported 83 new cases of the novel coronavirus in the last 24 hours, bringing the total number of cases in the country to 993, the Ministry of Health confirmed.

The country has imposed nationwide 11-hour curfew, but the number of daily reported cases are still on the rise in Kuwait. -- Al Arabiya English