Hospitals in the Rio Grande Valley are now forced to rely on plasma donations of recovered COVID-19 patients from out of the area. Convalescent plasma is a therapy used to treat virus patients.

Frank Esparza, regional director at Vitalant, says the blood bank has seen a dangerous drop in both blood and plasma donations.

Dr. Sohail Rao, president and CEO at DHR Health Institute for Research and Development, says with the surge of COVID-19 patients across the Valley, it would be good to get help from members of the local community than to depend on imported donations.

Watch the video above for the full report.