Information from the American Red Cross  

Right now, there is a national shortage of blood donations as thousands of blood drives have been cancelled in response to the coronavirus pandemic. It is estimated that the cancellations have resulted in 200,000 fewer blood donations in the U.S. In Ohio, there have been 20,000 fewer donations. 

Healthy individuals are needed now to donate to help patients counting on lifesaving blood. Donating blood is a safe process and people should not hesitate to give blood.  

The Red Cross’ Commitment to Blood Drive Safety 

The Red Cross has implemented new measures to ensure blood drives and donation centers are even safer for donors and staff, including: 

• Checking the temperature of staff and donors before entering a drive to make sure they are healthy 

• Providing hand sanitizer for use before the drive, as well as throughout the donation process 

• Spacing beds, where possible, to follow social distancing practices between blood donors, and 

• Increasing enhanced disinfecting of surfaces and equipment.

At each blood drive and donation center, Red Cross employees already follow thorough safety protocols to help prevent the spread of any type of infection, including: 

• Wearing gloves and changing gloves with each donor 

• Routinely wiping down donor-touched areas 

• Using sterile collection sets for every donation, and 

• Preparing the arm for donation with an aseptic scrub 

There is no data or evidence that COVID-19 can be transmitted by blood transfusion, and there have been no reported cases of transfusion transmission for any respiratory virus including the novel coronavirus worldwide. 

Schedule your blood donation with the Red Cross 

To find a blood drive near you and to make an appointment, visit RedCrossBlood.org, use the Red Cross Blood Donor App, call 1-800-RED-CROSS or activate the Blood Scheduling Skill for Amazon Alexa.  

Donors are strongly urged to make an appointment before showing up to donate in order to manage the flow of donors appropriately in alignment with social distancing practices. 

Visit the Red Cross website for more information on the coronavirus and blood donation.