NEW DELHI: Union health minister Dr Harsh Vardhan on Tuesday said that he has asked the Indian Red Cross Society to motivate recovered Covid-19 patients to donate blood so that this blood and plasma can be used to treat critical coronavirus patients."As mentioned by ICMR, the convalescent plasma will be really helpful in treating severe and serious Covid-19 patients. So, we asked the Indian Red Cross Society volunteers to motivate people who have already recovered from the Covid-19 disease to donate blood, so that their blood and plasma can be used to treat critical coronavirus patients," Harsh Vardhan told ANI here after a meeting with the Indian Red Cross Society chairman and members, via video conferencing."We asked Red Cross to provide all possible facilities to the volunteer donors who want to donate their blood in this time of pandemic crisis. We also asked them to do counselling of the people who are suffering from Covid-19," he added.The minister said that he appreciated the Indian Red Cross Society for the social service they are doing all over the country. "I asked them to spread awareness among the people regarding coronavirus and also to inspire people to follow the guidelines of the nationwide lockdown," he added.According to an official statement, Dr Harsh Vardhan also conveyed thanks to the Rotarians for contributing an amount of 26 crore in the PM-CARES fund. Further, the Rotarians also executed works worth Rs. 75 crores.Meanwhile, the Union health minister has written to health departments of all states and UTs to ensure adequate availability of blood in the blood banks."Dr Harsh Vardhan, Union health minister has written to the Health Departments of all States/UTs to ensure adequate availability of blood in blood banks. In particular, for people needing regular blood transfusion with blood disorders," the health ministry tweeted.