The blood supply of Raja Perempuan Zainab Hospital (HRPZ) II in Kota Bharu, Kelantan is running critically low at the moment and can only last for up to three days, according to a report by BERNAMA.
Due to the ongoing total lockdown implemented to flatten the curve, Hospital director Datuk Dr Selasawati Ghazali said the supply was fluctuating due to the ongoing MCO while the need for blood continues to rise rapidly.
“Our blood supply issue is very critical at the moment, besides encouraging our hospital staff to donate their blood, we are also trying to contact our friends from non-governmental organizations (NGO) to come forward to donate blood.
“Besides that, we are also extending the operation of HRPZ II blood transfusion centre until 11pm,” she told BERNAMA reporters earlier yesterday (1 June).
According to the report, Dr Selasawati explained that an average of 100 to 120 bags of blood is needed every day in Ministry of Health (KKM) hospitals across the state while the usage at HRPZ II is about 50 to 80 bags daily.
She urged the public of Kelantan to donate blood and expressed that they are unable to organize major blood donation drive programmes externally, causing a constraint for the hospital to obtain a steady amount of blood supply.
However, former Covid-19 patients were encouraged to undergo a recovery period of 3 months before donating their blood. Hence, healthy people who have not contracted Covid-19 are encouraged to donate blood instead.
Dr Selasawati said she hopes the implementation of the total lockdown could potentially reduce the demand for blood supply due to the movement restriction that leads to a drop in emergencies, accidents, or trauma, which might require a high volume of blood supply during emergency surgeries.
Also Read: MOH Considering Giving Vaccine Priority To Those Who Donated Blood More Than 50 Times
