As Florida continues to see COVID-19 cases coming in at over 9,000 new daily cases in the last month, and Tuesday setting a new record for deaths from the virus (186), the Buccaneers are prompting the donation of plasma to aid in the recovery.

And one of those COVID-19 cases, who has now recovered and helping get the word out on the importance of donating plasma, is Bucs tight end Cameron Brate, who contracted the virus during the offseason.

Brate and the Buccaneers posted a video on social media Wednesday morning talking about the importance of plasma donations for those who have recovered, or have tested positive for the antibodies.

 

View this post on Instagram

 

Thankful to have fully recovered from COVID-19. Donating plasma is the next step and something many can do! Go to OneBlood.org to learn how. Stay safe and #GOBUCS!

A post shared by Cameron Brate (@cambamgram) on Jul 29, 2020 at 6:13am PDT

According to the Florida Department of Health, as of 11 a.m. on July 28, there have been 441,977 positive cases of the coronavirus recorded in the state. The numbers include 436,867 Florida residents and 5,110 non-Florida residents. There have been 6,117 Florida resident deaths reported, 123 non-resident deaths and 24,917 hospitalizations.

According to the American Red Cross: people who have fully recovered from COVID-19 have antibodies in their plasma that can attack the virus. This convalescent plasma is being evaluated as treatment for patients with serious or immediately life-threatening COVID-19 infections, or those judged by a healthcare provider to be at high risk of progression to severe or life-threatening disease.

The Buccaneers announced recently that rookie running back Ke’Shawn Vaughn had been placed on the NFL’s new Reserve/COVID-19 list.