During lockdown, many French people have donated their blood. Yet, as France keeps on exiting containment, the Établissement Français du Sang (or French Blood Bank) is worried because of the supply dropping below the alert threshold. On June 3rd, the institution has called for massive mobilization, saying “patients’ needs are still as important, and even more since the hospital activity has resumed”.
Because, since lockdown has lifted, donations have grown rarer. The French blood bank explains this dramatic drop with two grounds. The first being that the first days following containment exit, many traveling collections that are usually set in universities have been cancelled, and while companies are keeping working from home, the situation have grown more difficult even after lockdown has been lifted.
The second ground is the decrease of samples on collections that have been kept throughout lockdown, and there are fewer donors. It is possible to give one’s blood every 8 weeks and donating in turns has become essential to “enable the level of the supply to increase before summer and keep it until September”.
The French blood bank also recalls that collections are possible in green and orange areas in conditions fitting the health guidelines: mandatory facemask, social distancing, and some places open by appointment.
To know where you can donate your blood, meet on the Don du Sang application or on the Où Donner? website.
Official website
dondesang.efs.sante.fr
