LUCAS COUNTY, Ohio — The coronavirus outbreak is also impacting other aspects of the health industry as now there is a critical shortage of donated blood.
Leaders at the American Red Cross say they now face a severe blood shortage due to more than 6,000 blood drives being canceled during this coronavirus outbreak, creating a shortage of over 170,000 units of blood.
In our area, more than 100 blood drives have been canceled, resulting in almost 1,500 fewer donations.
In a statement from Pampee Young, Chief Medical Officer for the Red Cross, donating blood is considered to be an essential activity by the federal government.
The Red Cross has begun implementing additional precautionary methods like taking donors and volunteers temperature before entering the building, having donors sanitize their hands, separating donor beds further apart and cleaning each bed after a donation.
They have also begun to reschedule the canceled blood drives at other locations.
Local Red Cross representatives say you should also be scheduling your blood donation appointments to help them spread out the amount of visitors.
"People are still counting on us while this outbreak is going on. And we don't want to create another health crisis on top of the other one we already have; and a blood shortage would be exactly that," said Todd James, director of The American Red Cross of North Central Ohio.
You can easily schedule an appointment for upcoming blood drives on the American Red Cross's website.
For more information you can always call 1-800-RED CROSS (1-800-733-2767).
WTOL 11 will also being holding our #11Together Blood drive at the Maumee United Methodist Church Friday, March 27 from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m.