The National Blood Transfusion Council of the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare issued the second interim national guideline for blood transfusion services in the country in the light of COVID-19 pandemic which stresses on safe functioning of blood transfusion services.
The guideline covers various aspects of blood transfusion services, including the functioning of blood banks and volunteering of donors. The guideline directs blood banks for exclusion of donors, who are in the risk category to maintain safety.
As per the guideline, blood from a person, who tested positive and recovered from the disease, can be collected only after 28 days of the discharge from the hospital or 28 days after the end of the home isolation.
Individuals should be deferred from donating blood for 28 days with the last possible close contact exposure to a person who is confirmed/suspected case of COVID-19, including those under quarantine. Similarly, individuals should avoid donating blood for 28 days after the date of departure from a country with COVID-19 transmission in the community and areas as notified by Government from time to time.
Blood banks have been asked to avoid mass gatherings such as camps involving more people and strictly follow physical distancing.
In order to maintain and ensure safe supply of blood and components, the guideline recommends to continue in-house blood donation as well as outside blood donation by strictly following norms of physical distancing, infection control measures and biomedical waste disposal rules. The guideline says that testing of the blood supply for COVID-19 is not recommended in the light of the risk of transfusion transmission being theoretical or lack of demonstrated infectivity of the SARS CoV-2 virus in blood collected from asymptomatic persons. However, blood banks should follow routine practices of infectious disease testing for transfusion transmissible infections as done earlier.
Sources with the Coimbatore Medical College Hospital said that stocks at the blood bank saw a decrease since the lockdown started as in the case of other blood banks in Government and private sectors. One of the main reasons behind the decline in voluntary blood donation was closing of colleges, students of which used to be 90% of the total donors. Employees of various companies, members of voluntary organisations, non-governmental organisations, fan clubs, political parties, relatives of patients, political and religious organisations used to form the remaining 10 % of donors.
As mass camps are not conducted, blood banks were collecting blood from relatives of patients who volunteer to donate blood with adequate screenings done, said an official from CMCH.
