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Virus survivors rake in cash for plasma on Iraq’s black market

Recovered coronavirus patients in Iraq are selling their blood plasma for $2,000 per liter on the black market as health leaders watch in dismay.
An Iraqi phlebotomist holds a bag of plasma donated by a recovered COVID-19 patient at the blood bank of Iraq's southern city of Nasiriyah in Dhi Qar province, on June 24, 2020. (Photo by Asaad NIAZI / AFP) (Photo by ASAAD NIAZI/AFP via Getty Images)

For five days, Qusay al-Zaidi searched for a recovered coronavirus patient to give him plasma for use in the treatment of his relatives who had contracted the virus. He expected to get it from a volunteer free of charge, but this was not the case.

“The recovered patient asked for $1,500 per liter and refused to negotiate the price,” he told Al-Monitor.

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