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I spoke with one of the staffers at the U of Iowa blood bank yesterday. With the outbreak of the Covid-19, I was wondering if donating blood had been changed or curtailed somehow. Since as a country we are doing very little testing could they still confidently take blood? Of course the need for blood doesn’t go away. There will still be car accidents and emergency surgeries.

The staffer assured me that the hospital is doing all it can to keep the virus on the outside. She said staff is cleaning and wiping down the building constantly. Visitations to patients is now limited to one per person, except in the case of children. For children the rule is that only parents can visit. Everybody that walks in the door of the hospital is now screened and has their temperature taken.

For those who have never given blood, rest assured that once you get to the blood center the donation is tried and true, safe and hygienic. While they cannot screen for the corona virus (as you know there are relatively few Covid-19 test kits in the country) they do the screening for the blood donation, including a temperature scan.

After the screening a whole blood donation takes about 30 minutes. And don’t forget you still get a treat at the end of the donation – not to mention the great feeling you get as a lifesaver. 

Of course new blood donors are needed at this critical time. If you have never donated google “donate blood in {home} county” and you will get the locations and telephone numbers of the donation centers. 

radioiowa.com reporting on the situation talked with the head of a blood donor center in Des Moines:

Christine Hayes, Chief Operating Officer of the Des Moines-based LifeServe Blood Center, says due to coronavirus, many people are working from home or they’re practicing social distancing and avoiding crowds. “Unfortunately, the majority of the blood that is collected comes from mobile blood drives,” Hayes says. “All of these scenarios that are occurring right now are drastically reducing mobile collections as we’re seeing cancellations and unfortunately, lack of donor turnout.”

The safety and quality of the blood supply is not impacted by coronavirus, Hayes says, as there have been no transmissions of the virus through blood transfusion.

If you are in the Iowa City area, the phone number to the Degowin Blood Center at the U of Iowa Hospital is 319-356-2058.

And one word of common sense: Do not call if you are sick. Donation centers do not have Covid-19 tests. If you are sick call your doctor.