The coronavirus pandemic means many of us have been called on to stay home and isolate ourselves as much as possible. This means that blood drives throughout the United States are being canceled.
Blood drives are often held where people naturally come together in groups, be it workplaces, universities or even popular places of business.
But the coronavirus has dramatically reshaped our social landscape and many scheduled blood drives have been canceled.
Unfortunately, this means blood collections are dropping, but the need for blood donations hasn’t stopped. Blood centers and health care professionals are working to encourage people who are still healthy to donate blood, and O negative donors are especially needed.
O negative blood can be transfused into anyone who needs blood and is the most common blood type to be used in a trauma situation. If you have O negative blood, now is the perfect time to donate.
The blood donation process is safe and blood donation locations have put extra safety precautions in place to reduce exposure to other donors. Since blood donation is essential to saving lives, as long as you are healthy and eligible to donate, you should be able to visit your local blood center even during “isolate at home” orders.
"If you feel healthy, go out and donate. It's something great you can do for the nation," says Dr. Mehmet Oz
An appointment is necessary to help blood centers control the number of people in the facility at one time.
