(Redmond, WA, Tuesday, April 28, 2020) – There is an urgent, nationwide call for coronavirus survivors to donate their plasma in order to help researchers develop a potential treatment for COVID-19. Plasma must be collected from those who have recovered from COVID-19 within 30 days of a full recovery in order to be viable for use in clinical trials.

There is mounting clinical evidence that plasma collected from those who have recovered from COVID-19 – known as convalescent plasma – can be used to treat those currently stricken with the virus. In response, experts from the world’s leading plasma organizations have formed the CoVIg-19 Plasma Alliance to accelerate the development of a potential treatment using antibodies from people who have fully recovered from COVID-19.

To support this effort, Microsoft developed and is hosting the Plasma Bot (the “CoVig-19 Bot”) which is a self-screening tool to help people who have recovered from COVID-19 understand if they qualify for convalescent plasma donation and help them find nearby participating plasma collection centers.

Anyone can use the Plasma Bot to see if they qualify to donate their plasma for research into treatments that could help COVID-19 patients recover and protect high-risk individuals from the disease. More than 50% of the eligible donor population in the U.S. lives within 15 miles of one of the 500 centers operated by alliance member companies.

Please visit covig-19plasmaalliance.org to use the Plasma Bot powered by Microsoft to understand if you qualify to donate plasma for research into these treatments.