What to know about the Coronavirus and Blood Donation

The top priority of the Red Cross is the safety of our donors, volunteers, employees and blood recipients, and we are committed to transparency with the American public during this evolving public health emergency. There are no data or evidence that this coronavirus can be transmissible by blood transfusion, and there have been no reported cases worldwide of transmissions for any respiratory virus including this coronavirus.

The Red Cross only collects blood from individuals who are healthy and feeling well at the time of donation and who meet other eligibility requirements.

At each blood drive or donation center, Red Cross employees follow thorough safety protocols, including:

We have also increased our vigilance concerning some of these safety protocols including:

To ensure our staff are healthy each day, we have implemented standard staff health assessments prior to all blood drives.

Finally,onlyeligible and healthy peopleare allowed togive blood.

These mitigation measures will help ensure blood recipient safety, as well as staff and donor safety in reducing contact with those who may potentially have this respiratory infection.

Book yournext donation appointmentfor the days and weeks ahead to help ensure a sufficient blood supply for patients in need.

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What to know about the Coronavirus and Blood Donation