If you’re healthy, you can donate blood.
That’s the message from Canadian Blood Services associate director of donor relations Jennifer Dareichuk, who says that Manitoba is experiencing a shortage of blood donations in light of the coronavirus crisis.
We’ve seen a recent spike in some of our appointment cancellations in several of our cities across the country,” she said.
“We’re continuing to operate.”
“We need blood donations, and we need to rely on healthy people to help us fulfill our commitment to helping patients in Canada.”
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Dareichuk said the donation centres are places of wellness, and people who don’t feel well usually aren’t thinking about donating blood.
CBS has increased its cleaning procedures, however, and are screening people before they donate.
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As of Monday, anyone who has been asked by public health officials to place themselves under observation or self-quarantine is not allowed to donate for 14 days.
Anyone with a case or suspected case in their household will, similarly, need to wait 14 days after the infected person’s recovery before donating blood, and anyone with a confirmed case of COVID-19 is barred from donating until 56 days after full recovery.