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American Red Cross seeing need for more blood drives

Angela Powley with the Red Cross said because life is getting back to normal, the need for blood has increased.

CHARLOTTE, N.C. — COVID-19 has caused people to work from home longer than expected, and for the American Red Cross, that means fewer businesses to host blood drives. 

Angela Powley with the Red Cross said because life is getting back to normal, the need for blood has increased.

"We had hospitals that were not doing surgeries and they've now returned to doing their surgeries," Powley said.

But while hospitals have returned to doing surgeries, things aren't "normal" enough to have the pre-coronavirus amount of hosts.

"COVID has caused a lot of people to close their facilities or limit access to their facilities so we've had a lot of blood drives canceled across our state, and that's resulted in the loss of a lot of units of blood," Powley said.

Powley said it's taking a direct hit to their inventory.

"We need folks who are willing to host blood drives to let us come," she said. "We're following a lot of safety precautions. ... We're testing temperatures of donors and staff before they enter the drive."

Powley said donating comes with an added perk.

"When you give blood with the American Red Cross, we will test your blood to see if you have the antibodies for COVID-19 and then we'll provide that information back to you," she said.

That being said, Powley said they don't serve as a testing site, and asks anyone who thinks they may be sick to stay home

"We need healthy donors, so if you're feeling well, no symptoms, then you're the person we would love to have come and give," she said.

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