The current situation of blood stocks is in a critical state”and will be even more in the days to come“, alert Monday evening the Belgian Red Cross.
In two weeks, the Red Cross saw its stock melt by more than 1,600 pockets. “If nothing is done, on 31.01.2022 we will have less than 1,000 pockets in our fridges, i.e. barely a third of the recommended level for optimal operation.“, warns the organization in a press release.
If the month of January is usually synonymous with recovery for the Blood Service, donors are not there this year.
If January is usually the month of recovery for blood donations, donors are not at the appointments during the organized collections. And the forecasts are not good. “This 5th wave complicates things enormously. The very strong increase in cases and, of course, contact cases, means that a significant part of our donors do not go to blood drives.“, specifies the Red Cross. Attendance has indeed decreased by 20%, or 600 fewer donors per week out of the 3,000 expected. “This poses a real problem for the continuity of supplies to hospitals whose activity is currently very sustained.“
The Red Cross therefore calls for a very strong mobilization of anyone able to donate blood, which is absolutely necessary in order to continue to provide quality service to hospitals and patients.
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