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Bill Graveland
The Canadian Press
Chantale Pambrun, spokesperson for the organization, stressed that COVID-19 is caused by a respiratory virus and that there is no danger of it being transmitted through the blood.
More than 950,000 Canadians have been infected since the virus first appeared in the country a year ago and the long-term effects of COVID-19 are still unknown.
Canadian Blood Services has adjusted its questionnaire so that a potential donor of blood products can indicate if they have been exposed to COVID-19 in the previous two weeks or if they have been affected by the disease in the last 28 days 28 days.
Mme Pambrun said the supply of blood products has remained constant during the pandemic and that there even appears to have been an increase in the number of new donors.
Some 17,000 units are needed on a weekly basis to meet demand in Canada. Approximately 400,000 Canadians, out of a population of 37 million, donate blood on a regular basis.
Blood from former COVID-19 patients was used in a nationwide pilot project to see if recipients would develop antibodies.
“It was the only logical way to do this before the development of approved vaccines,” said Dr.r Davinder Sidhu, the pathologist who conducted the study from Foothills Medical Center, a major research and teaching hospital located in Calgary, Alberta.
The project ended, but the results of the study are still being analyzed. Canadian Blood Services is looking in particular at the results that could provide a portrait of the transmission of COVID-19 in different regions across the country.
The Dr Sidhu, an associate researcher at the University of Calgary, also believes that there is no fear in dealing with blood from donors who have already had COVID-19 or who have been vaccinated against the disease. .
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