Coronavirus: Seattle blood supply 'in danger of collapse', health officials warn

Washington state location of half US fatalities from disease

Crisis has to loss of estimated 2,500 blood donations (Getty)

Seattle’s blood supply is danger of collapse because of a drop in donations as a result of the coronavirus crisis, officials have revealed

As the city and surrounding counties scramble to respond to Covid-19, which was first reported in the US in Washington State, and where about half the nation’s fatalities have occurred, health officials urged people not to stop donating.

They also provided information about how people can donate safely, while minimising their risk of infecting someone.

“Growing Covid 19 concerns and closures have led to cancelled blood drives and 2500 lost donations, putting our local blood supply in danger of collapse,” King County health department said in a statement.

“While inventories are now holding steady as faithful donors and first-time donors respond to the urgent need, donations will continue to drop in the days and weeks to come.

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It added: “New donors are needed now to step-up and save a life, and for donors to make this a generous and consistent habit. All types of blood are needed for cancer treatment, trauma cases, and many other situations. The process only takes an hour and actual donation time is about 10 minutes.”

Earlier this week, experts warned the situation being seen in Seattle was likely be replicated in other parts of the country.

Brian Gannon, who runs the Gulf Coast Regional Blood Center and chairs a disaster task force for AABB, formerly known as the American Association of Blood Bank, said supplies in New York were also low because of blood drive cancellations.

“I’m concerned. This is different than most of the types of pandemics we’ve had in the past or the other types of disasters that I’ve been involved with because it has to do with people social distancing themselves,” Mr Gannon said.

“Blood has a short shelf life, so it’s not like we can stockpile it.”

Blood supply in Seattle started to dwindle at the beginning of the month, according to Bloodworks Northwest, which collects and distributes blood around the northwest US.

“Last week was really bad and we were at critical and emergency levels,” said Vicki Finson, executive vice president of blood services at Bloodworks Northwest. She said 60 per cent of Bloodworks Northwest’s blood was from mobile blood drives, and the push to have people work from home has resulted in many being cancelled.

She said: “If this gets worse, people will quit responding and then we will be in a very difficult situation.”

Additional reporting by Reuters