Coronavirus outbreak: Hyderabad blood banks report shortage

HYDERABAD: With most establishments closed amid Covid-19 outbreak, shortage of blood was reported on Sunday. The situation is likely to get worse and even become a major problem for Thalassemia patients.
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Sources said that donation has gone down in the last few days as people are now avoiding hospitals and health camps. “Since we get blood donations by conducting camps at IT companies and colleges, both of which are closed now, our catchment area has gone down to zero. This is a problem especially for children with Thalassemia who might even succumb,” said DR KP Reddy, medical officer, Red Cross Blood Bank, which runs a transfusion centre for thalassemia patients. As many as 25 patients are given transfusion each day at the centre.
Most other blood banks too were scrambling to get blood units and alerts sent on various platforms had hit a high on Sunday. “I have been asked to get blood for a surgery scheduled after two days but since I have not been able to get any donors, the surgery is likely to be rescheduled now,” said Satish Rao, a patient’s relative who is to undergo an orthopaedic surgery at a private hospital in Hitech city.