As blood banks in the state are drying up amid the COVID-19 lockdown, the Department of Health and Family Welfare in Karnataka, along with NGOs and blood banks, is taking measures to ensure adequate supply of blood.
Blood banks in the state are not able to conduct blood donation camps due to the lockdown. The fear of contracting coronavirus prevents even voluntary donors from donating blood.
To counter the crisis, 17 blood collection centres have been identified in five zones of the state. These centres have the infrastructure and human resources for collection of blood. Donors can call the helpline at 9154153920 and register themselves. They will be taken to the blood banks and dropped back at their homes free of cost after collection.
Social distancing measures will be followed at the blood collection centres and the vehicles used for transporting the donors will be disinfected after each use. A notification issued by the Health Department states that “infection control measures like hand hygiene, cough etiquette, safe disposal of used gloves, masks and other soiled material will be strictly followed at the collection centres’’.
Fifty per cent of the blood collected will be handed over to government blood banks and it will be distributed as per requirement.
