Medical workers load boxes of convalescent plasma onto a car at Hunan blood center in Changsha, central China's Hunan Province, March 30, 2020. Hunan on Monday donated a new batch of blood to Hubei Province, the 29th since the outbreak of the COVID-19 epidemic in the neighboring province. (Photo by Chen Sihan/Xinhua)

WUHAN -- China's Wuhan plans to build a pool of convalescent plasma collected from donors who have recovered from COVID-19, to help more patients.

Wuhan Blood Center will be responsible for the plasma collection, according to sources with the center.

Over the past five months, a total of 1,319 recovered COVID-19 patients have donated 460,000 ml plasma in Wuhan, capital of central China's Hubei Province. The city once hard hit by the epidemic has also received 17,500 ml of donated plasma from other Chinese provinces, according to the center.

Since April 10, Wuhan has offered 85,850 ml of plasma to cities and provinces including Beijing, Harbin and Jilin.

Convalescent plasma, processed from the plasma collected from recovered COVID-19 patients, contains a large number of protective antibodies, which studies have proven effective in treating critical cases.

In February, plasma therapy was included in China's diagnosis and treatment guidelines on COVID-19. Chinese health officials have also called for plasma donation to help fight the disease.