Blood centers are reporting that COVID-19 is causing a critical shortage of blood donations.
Lifeshare spokesperson Ben Prijatel says March is usually a busy month for blood centers, but…
“All of our high school and college blood drives, really any business or organization has canceled with us as well.
That’s led to a loss of 4,000 scheduled blood donations during March, the biggest hit coming from the suspension of schools. 1 in 5 donors are teens.
Hospitals may be preparing to take an influx of coronavirus patients, but Prijatel says that doesn’t mean your routine procedures and patients won’t still need help.
“Cancer patients who use a lot of blood, those who are undergoing open-heart surgery or organ transplants or have a blood disorder that requires regular routine infusions, those folks cannot wait until July or August,” says Prijatel.
Blood also cannot be refrigerated for longer than 42 days per the Red Cross, so a steady supply is needed.
Prijatel says they still need people to come in for donations despite the COVID crisis. He says just know you can still socially distance while donating.
“We’ve heard from health experts that you should limit interactions to groups of people who are no bigger than ten people. Well, our donor busses don’t even hold ten people at a time,” says Prijatel.
Donors will be screened, including having their temperature checked, before entering. The rumor that donors will be tested for COVID-19 is not accurate.
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