Blood Supply Plummets Due to Strengthened Social Distancing... "Appeal for Blood Donation Interest" (Update)

Blood Supply for 3.3 Days... Daily Group Blood Donations Down 32%, Individual Donations Down 20%

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Seo So-jeong] The stock of blood has sharply decreased due to the strengthened social distancing measures against the novel coronavirus infection (COVID-19).

Yoon Tae-ho, head of the Central Disaster and Safety Countermeasures Headquarters' quarantine team, stated at the regular briefing on the 18th, "As of 0:00 on the 18th, the blood stock is at 3.3 days, which is at the 'interest' level." According to the blood crisis response manual, a blood stock of 3 days or more but less than 5 days is classified as 'interest,' 2 days or more but less than 3 days as 'caution,' 1 day or more but less than 2 days as 'alert,' and less than 1 day as 'serious.'

Yoon said, "Despite the spread of COVID-19, the government has encouraged blood donations through disaster text messages, and many citizens have actively participated in blood donation, maintaining the blood stock at over 5 days. However, recently, due to the strengthening of social distancing, individual blood donations have decreased and group blood donations have been canceled, making continuous participation in blood donation necessary."

According to the Ministry of Health and Welfare, after the strengthening of social distancing, the average daily amount of group blood donations decreased by about 32%, and individual blood donations decreased by about 20%.

Yoon added, "The government asks for the continued interest and cooperation of the public in life-saving blood donations so that the appropriate blood stock level of over 5 days can be maintained."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.