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A clinical trial to establish if blood plasma from recovered coronavirus patients could help fight the pandemic has gained approval, raising hopes for thousands of NHS patients.

Health Secretary Matt Hancock said 5,000 NHS Covid-19 sufferers a week could potentially benefit from the treatment if it is found successful.

Downing Street also said it is bolstering the national supply of plasma in anticipation of a national rollout.

The treatment would see “convalescent plasma” donated from the blood of those who have recovered from the virus, transfused to patients struggling to produce antibodies against the illness.

Convalescent plasma was used as a treatment during the Sars outbreak.

Mr Hancock said: “The UK has world-leading life sciences and research sectors and I have every hope this treatment will be a major milestone in our fight against this disease.

“Hundreds of people are participating in national trials already for potential treatments and the scaling up of convalescent plasma collection means thousands could potentially benefit from it in the future.”

Professor Jonathan Van Tam, deputy chief medical officer, said: “The UK is leading the world’s largest trials to find a treatment for Covid-19, with over 7,000 people so far involved testing a range of medicines; we hope to add convalescent plasma to this list shortly.

“Convalescent plasma has been used as an effective treatment for emerging infections in the past, and this step forward underpins our science-backed approach to fighting this virus.”

NHS Blood and Transplant will contact people in England who have recovered and who might be able to donate, the Department of Health said.

People who have had a confirmed positive test result and who are willing to donate, can also provide their details through the NHS Blood and Transplant website.

It comes after the Government's online portal for key workers to book home testing kits was swamped with 46,000 applications on Friday, forcing it to close hours after opening.