The South African National Blood Service (SANBS) is currently on a drive to stock up on blood. This follows the national lockdown instituted in March as a response to the global Covid-19 pandemic.
It released a statement reassuring South Africans that donating blood during this time, is still safe and that its staff are taking all precautions to ensure donors are not exposed to the virus.
The statement read, “The safety of donors, staff and the overall South African community, is of utmost importance to the SANBS and extensive precautionary measures have been taken to ensure donor safety.
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“All persons accessing donor clinics are thoroughly screened and anyone exhibiting flu-like symptoms or symptoms of infections is advised to delay donation until they are well.”
Lowveld Media staff heeded the call and presented themselves at the SANB marquee in the parking lot to make sure that they too, do their bit to potentially save lives.
True to its word, SANBS employees screened all potential donors, checking blood pressure, iron deficiency and sanitising all equipment before the next donor in line was attended to.
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“It is important to note that individuals are not at risk of contracting Covid-19 through the blood donation process, or via a blood transfusion since respiratory viruses are generally not known to be transmissible by donation or transfusion,” the statement continued.
The severe travel restrictions imposed during the hard lockdown restricted the SANBS’ movement and it could therefore not travel to usual sources such as schools, universities, corporates and other institutions to collect blood.
Many South Africans rely on donations to survive and the SANBS reiterated the call for donors to donate blood and increase the severely depleted stock levels.
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“SANBS hopes that community members will be able to find the time to make a difference to the lives of others by donating blood,” the statement concluded.
Donating is more than just a civic responsibility – it saves lives, especially for those who are reliant on donations to lead healthy, normal lives.
