After Recovering From COVID-19, Tom Hanks Is Donating Blood For Plasma Therapy, To Help Others

Healthcare units in countries across the world have had some success with the blood plasma therapy to treat Coronavirus patients, in the wake of which thousands of recovered patients have come forward to donate blood for the same.

Instagram/Tom Hanks

Among them are Hollywood actor Tom Hanks and his wife Rita Wilson, they are doing their bit to help with the fight against the devious virus that has wreaked havoc across the globe.

The Academy Award winner revealed on social media that he donated blood plasma at a Los Angeles hospital in an effort to help fight the coronavirus.

Sharing a photo of the bag of plasma he donated, Tom Hanks wrote, 'Here¡¯s last week's bag of plasma. Such a bag! After the paperwork, it¡¯s as easy as taking a nap. Thanks @arimoin and UCLA. Hanx (sic)'.

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Hello folks. @ritawilson and I want to thank everyone here Down Under who are taking such good care of us. We have Covid-19 and are in isolation so we do not spread it to anyone else. There are those for whom it could lead to a very serious illness. We are taking it one-day-at-a-time. There are things we can all do to get through this by following the advice of experts and taking care of ourselves and each other, no? Remember, despite all the current events, there is no crying in baseball. Hanx

A post shared by Tom Hanks (@tomhanks) on Mar 12, 2020 at 7:08pm PDT

Tom Hanks was diagnosed with the novel coronavirus along with his wife Rita Wilson in March. The actor was shooting his upcoming film in Australia.

In a recent interview with NPR, Hanks explained that he and his wife, Rita Wilson, are able to donate their blood and that he hoped it may be used to help find a cure for the deadly virus.

Here¡¯s last week's bag of plasma. Such a bag! After the paperwork, it¡¯s as easy as taking a nap. Thanks @arimoin and UCLA. Hanx pic.twitter.com/15WblGiVwe

¡ª Tom Hanks (@tomhanks) April 29, 2020

"We have not only been approached, we have said, 'Do you want our blood? Can we give plasma?' And, in fact, we will be giving it now to the places that hope to work on what I would like to call the Hank-ccine," Hanks recently said on the podcast Wait Wait Don't Tell Me!

He added, "A lot of the questions [are] what do we do now? Is there something we can do? And, in fact, we just found out that we do carry the antibodies."

The liquid portion of blood taken from survivors of the disease may be rich in antibodies that doctors hope can speed up recovery for the sickest patients. A plasma transfusion is much like a blood transfusion and is administered with an IV.

In India hundreds of Tablighi Jamaat volunteers who have recovered from coronavirus are now queuing up in hospitals in different parts of India to donate plasma for critical patients undergoing treatment.

Doctors have urged recovered Covid-19 patients to donate their plasma so it can be used for trials on more incoming cases. Plasma therapy is not seen as a cure but as a stop-gap measure by doctors to help patients recover.