Community Blood Center (CBC) announced today that the blood shortage has reached emergency levels as fears of the COVID-19 Delta variant are leading to an even greater drop in donations. Though the region has been experiencing a chronic blood shortage since the onset of the pandemic, the local supply has further dropped to a less than 3-day supply of readily available blood.
“We are deeply worried by the recent drop in donations — at this concerning time it’s critical that healthy donors continue to come forward to help their neighbors,” said Patsy Shipley, Executive Director of Community Blood Center. “We thought we’d see our local blood supply recover with the return of school blood drives in the fall, but fears surrounding the Delta variant are presenting significant obstacles. A robust blood supply is essential for our healthcare system to function and we must do everything we can to strengthen it at this time of uncertainty.”
Bates County Memorial Hospital will have a Community Blood Center Blood Drive on Wednesday, September 1st at the Bates County Memorial Hospital Education Center located at 615 West Nursery Street in Butler. Blood Drive will be from 12pm to 5pm. Appointments are preferred. Masks are required regardless of vaccination.
To schedule your appointment online, visit the CBC website:
https://donate.savealifenow.org/…/drive_schedule/72853
Or call 1-877-468-6844.
Donating blood is safe and it only takes one hour. We are taking extra precautions to help prevent the person-to-person spread of COVID-19. All donors and CBC staff are required to wear a face covering and staff are practicing health self-assessments prior to presenting at work. As always, people are not eligible to donate if they’re experiencing a cold, sore throat, respiratory infection or flu-like symptoms. Additional information on donor eligibility and COVID-19 precautions is available here.
To schedule an appointment or learn about hosting a blood drive in your community, call
1-877-468-6844 or visit www.savealifenow.org.
