Blood donations drop over coronavirus concerns on Central Coast
SANTA MARIA, Calif. - Numerous blood drives have been cancelled after concerns about the coronavirus escalated, causing a loss of thousands of donations.
Over the past two weeks, Tony Briggs, CEO of the Central California region of the American Red Cross said they've had 75 blood drive cancellations in Southern California over the last two weeks.
Briggs says that amounts to 2,600 donations.
Each blood donation can help up to three people, meaning that those lost donations could have helped up to 7,800 people.
Likewise, Vitalant has seen cancellations from drives at five high schools in the past couple of days.
Plus, with UCSB going virtual, they are not able to accept donations on campus.
They typically have 30 to 100 donations per high school drive, and 40 to 75 donations per college drive.
Doctors recommend that events with large groups be rescheduled or cancelled during the coronavirus outbreak.
Mona Kleman, senior manager for donor recruitment at Vitalant, said there is a misconception that blood drives are a big group event.
In reality Kleman said, blood drives are very individual.
Each person who donates blood is in their own space, separated from others by several feet.
Both Kleman and Briggs said that blood donation facilities are some of the safest places to be. They are well sanitized.
Briggs said the Red Cross is asking additional screening questions regarding the coronavirus and whether someone has been in contact with anyone having the virus.
They also test the blood for pathogens after the donation.
Briggs said it's incredibly important to keep the blood supply stable. "When there's an emergency, it's the blood on the shelf that is used right away," he said.
Across the country, the American Red Cross is seeing the same cancellations.
Overall, Briggs said they have had 600 blood drive cancellations, or about 18,000 lost donations in the past two weeks.
Those donations could have helped up to 54,000 people.
Briggs encourages people to "roll up a sleeve" and donate if they are feeling well.
