Blood banks across the country seek donors amid shortages
A man donates his blood in Lianyungang, Jiangsu Province, on December 6, 2022.
Blood banks in multiple provinces have called on residents to donate their blood as they face an alarming shortage of blood amid the ongoing closure of colleges and an outbreak of COVID-19.
Donors dropped sharply during earlier lockdowns. College students who are major contributors to the blood bank have returned to their hometowns as physical classes ended early due to the pandemic.
College students are an essential group for voluntary blood donation, accounting for 78 percent of total blood donors in 2021, according to the Chinese National Health Commission.
The total volume of Type A blood constitutes a three-day supply in Jiangsu Province, while Types B, O and AB blood each make up a five-day supply, reported Jiangsu Television Station.
The shortfall has affected the emergent treatment of maternal and critically ill patients, said the Blood Center of Kunming, Yunnan province, on Monday.
Health authorities in Kunming have called on government agencies to organize group donations to relieve the acute shortage.
The Red Cross Society in Gansu Province has also sounded the alarm.
Some citizens in Lanzhou, Gansu province, volunteered to donate blood at local donation sites after receiving text messages urging them to come out and give blood, reported The Beijing News on Thursday.
