Blood Donations Declined Amid Ongoing Coronavirus Pandemic

Hospitals nationwide are terminating elective operations and lessening the quantity of blood they offer. All this is to keep or retain the blood supply. As per the American Association of Blood Banks, rapidly spreading COVID-19 has resulted in the cancellation of more than 4,000 blood donations in the U.S. Even more, the termination has resulted in a loss of around 130,000 blood donations. Well, it is bad news for patients who depend on continuous blood transfusions. AABB’s Chief Medical Officer and the director of the blood bank at the University of Minnesota Medical Center Dr. Claudia Cohn said these circumstances have led to a massive and unprecedented loss of donations.

Currently, they are seeking to delay or lessen the usage of blood, citing that they are failing to re-fill the stock at a higher rate. The American Red Cross noted the fact is someone requires blood every two seconds. Thus it is a probably dangerous condition for the agency’s exceptional health crisis. Even more, the American Red Cross is stepping up on calls for healthy Americans to donate blood between the coronavirus pandemic. On the other hand, Mark C. Poloncarz, an Erie County Executive, has said the region has enough bloodstock that could last for a few days. As per the executive, the cancellation of elective operations could assist them in expanding the existing blood supply.

Meanwhile, ConnectLife and the Red Cross are advising organizations to conduct local blood camps. Apart from this, they are requesting donors to take appointments before donating blood locally. Jay Bonafede, the representative of the American Red Cross, said much of the blood drives are conducted at places like colleges and businesses which are closed now. Bonafede also noted that countrywide they are down around 200,000 blood units. Meanwhile, the US CDC recommends that healthy people donate blood while keeping appropriate social distancing measures. For now, health officials have not found any link between spreading new coronavirus and blood transmission.